Forgotten Plans
by Jacklyn Frost
Summary: Cinder has an elaborate plan for all of Remnant. But all that goes to waste when she goes into a coma. Ruby feels somewhat responsible, and visits Cinder while she recovers. When Cinder wakes up, all she remembers is the red-head from her dreams; and she forgets her plans...
1. Chapter 1

**This story is dedicated to my friend ARMV7****!**

**May you all take a look at his trash! ;) No seriously, go give his stories a read. They might just make you 'fall' for this trash pairing.**

* * *

Ruby leapt out of the way of an incoming strike; twisting her body to propel her deadly scythe, Crescent Rose, into the chest of the Beowolf.

She stopped and panted for breath, waiting for more Grimm to attack.

But there were none.

Or, at least, there were none in one piece.

A dozen Beowolves littered the ground around her, mixed with casings from her 'sweetheart'.

"Bravo! Well done, Miss Rose; you are becoming a great huntress! You killed them with precision and speed! Why, that was much like the time I was surrounded and –"

The bell rang, saving everyone from enduring another one of his 'heroic tales'.

Port looked around, bewildered by the sudden absence of students.

* * *

It was the week after team RWBY had the sad and emotional battle over The World of Remnant (Weiss's nemesis in board games)

"Wow, Rubes; didn't know you could pull a move like that!"

"Oh please; her stance was all wrong and she could have killed them faster."

"She did do surprisingly well."

And the conversation continued thus, until Yang had a brilliant idea.

"Ruby! Let's go get you something as a victory meal!"

Ruby instantly perked up. "Oh! Can we go get cookies?!"

Weiss scoffed. "If you wanted to go get dessert, please do not call it 'a meal'."

Yang grinned. "But I didn't call it a _meal_. I called it a VICTORY MEAL!"

Yang and Ruby high-fived, and they rushed towards the nearest vending machine.

"I swear I live with children…." Weiss muttered.

Blake just smirked and followed Ruby and Yang; hoping to get something out of this deal.

"Oh, the strawberry one!" Ruby said, pointing towards the enticing cookie stored in its metal container.

"Ha-ha, sure thing Rubes! Just let me put the money in it…" Yang grabbed a few Liens and inserted it into the machine.

Ruby and Yang waited for a tense 5.7 seconds…then: Their money slowly slid back out.

"What?" Yang inserted it again, but the same thing happened. Yang frowned and punched the machine. "Come on, dang it! Rubes wants her cookie and you are going to get it for her!"

After a few moments of Yang putting the money in, it sliding back out, and her cursing, Yang kicked the machine over.

"YOU PIECE OF [expletive deleted] TRASH! YOU NEED TO GO TO [several colorful words later] THE DUMP!"

She picked up the machine (much to the rest of her teams horror) and chucked it across the room.

Yang was storming down the hall before the machine even landed.

* * *

But this is where it gets interesting.

See, there happened to be a certain raven-haired lady that was watching them.

This little 'Red' might be more trouble than she had originally thought.

"Hey Cinder, should we watch where they go?"

Cinder glared at the team as they walked down the hall. "No…I'll be watching them for now."

RWBY stopped in front of a vending machine, and they appeared to be having trouble.

The loud blonde was yelling, and Mercury snickered. "Sheesh, she needs to learn to can it…"

Cinder turned to shush him when Emerald yelled, "Look out!" at Cinder.

Had Cinder been more aware, she would have easily avoided the metal object that was chucked her direction.

But she wasn't, and so the vending machine collided with her head; knocking her to the ground and making her instantly dizzy and groggy. Her vision was going, and she only saw a flutter of rose petals fall by her head as she blinked slowly, stupidly; trying to process what that liquid was that was getting into her eyes.

She saw a blurry outline of someone with a red cloak leaning over her, before her world went cold and dark.

* * *

It stayed like that for a while.

* * *

**This is only like, a little jump start in this fic. It is going to be maybe a two-shot or three-shot. Depends on how long I make the chapters. I will hopefully write more soon, but until then: Peace! Jackie out!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**New Very-Freaking-Short-Chapter!**_

* * *

_Beep…beep…beep…._

The monitors beeped and hummed, all trying to do their job of keeping Cinder alive.

As it turns out, getting hit by an oversized vending machine by one of the strongest persons in Beacon was not a good idea.

When Yang threw the machine, it collided with Cinder's head; knocking her out.

Or, at least, that's what they thought…

Ruby heard the yelling, and when she looked up; she saw Cinder's body go flying down the hallway.

Ruby would have normally not wanted to see so much blood…again…but she had to save her!

Ruby had used her semblance and picked up the bigger woman. Ruby ignored how heavy she was, (not implying Cinder as fat; Ruby's muscles are just tiny) and rushed towards the infirmary.

They immediately took Cinder straight into surgery to keep her brain from swelling.

And so Ruby and the rest of her team anxiously had waited until she was out of surgery.

And that's what brings us to our current moment; Yang and Ruby asking about Cinder.

The doctor sighed. "As it turns out, she must have not activated her Aura; because she is in a coma."

Yang's jaw dropped. "A…com…a coma? For how long?"

He shrugged. "It all depends. And during surgery, part of the brain that holds the memories was damaged. If she wakes up, we will know how much was affected."

Ruby frowned. "If she wakes up? Why wouldn't she wake up?"

They all glanced at Cinder peacefully sleeping, a small smirk on her face. Cinder's head was wrapped in bandages; keeping the area clean while the stitches healed.

"That is hard to say; there are many different factors that go into how long coma patients have until they wake up.

"For instance, if she had nobody to wake up to, it would take longer. The subconscious knows that there are people it wants to see again, and it will automatically wake up. Or, it could want to wake up but something here is keeping if from doing so. Really, there is no specific way to tell." The doctor said.

Yang sat down on a chair, covering her face with her hands. "You mean I might just have caused someone to go into a coma for who-knows-how-long!"

Ruby wasn't sure what to do with this. Usually Yang was the one to comfort her, and so she laid an awkward hand on Yang's shoulder. "It's all right Yang... I'll visit her so she won't be lonely. When she wakes up she will forgive you; I know it!"

Weiss walked in the small white room and scoffed. "Ruby, you are a terrible liar. Come on Yang; you and Blake have a partner class soon."

Yang jumped up. "Oh crap, I forgot!"

She ran out of the room, and the occupants could hear her muffled voice yelling, "I'M COMING BLAAAAAAAKKKE!"

Weiss was about to say something to Ruby, but her scroll went off.

"Hello, Weiss Schnee speaking." And then she walked down the hall, talking about something that was completely lost on Ruby.

This left her and the-….wait, where was the doctor?

He was gone; no trace of him anywhere.

Ruby sighed and sat down next to Cinder's bed. "I guess it's just you and me now. I'm sorry you're hurt, but it makes talking to you so much easier."

Ruby had always wanted to talk to the mysterious woman, and talk Ruby did.

She talked about the weather, sports, who was getting beat up by Yang, who Weiss was yelling at that day (which was usually her), and what book Blake was reading.

It stayed like that for a while.

* * *

After a time, the rest of team RWBY noticed the consistent lack of Ruby around.

But that was fine by them.

Weiss was happy that the little bundle of un-coordinated energy wasn't around to ruin anything.

Blake was happy that the never-ending sound of Ruby gushing over weapons and random things.

And Yang (be as she may her sister) was happy that Ruby wasn't around to constantly pester her. After all, Yang had basically raised her, and needed a break.

Ruby was happy to have someone who didn't yell at her.

She was happy to have someone who had a legitimate reason for ignoring her, not just reading a book.

And she was happy to not have to deal with someone embarrassing her and making puns at her expense.

...

All in all; it was a good tradeoff.

* * *

**Thank you to everyone for reviewing and following! If I had a cake, we could all share it. Or I could keep it, because CAKE!**

**…whichever. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I wasn't exactly expecting such a response to this story! THANK YOU!**

**You all are amazing, and thanks for the reviews and follows!**

* * *

Days and weeks passed. Those weeks were turning into months.

That's right. A whole three months since Cinder got clocked on the head.

Team RWBY still visited from time to time; but it was still the same.

Cinder sleeping with a passive look on her face.

The doctors were still monitoring her brain functions, and decided that she was not in a danger of dying.

What they did notice was that every time a certain red head visited, her brain functions would start speeding up.

And so the doctors were always encouraged to find the red cloaked girl visiting Cinder.

She would read to her sometimes, but mostly she would just talk.

The rest of Cinder's team had left Beacon a long time ago; saying that their parents didn't think it safe for them. (Even though the doctors thought something was shifty about them)

Cinder would have been left alone…and if she woke up, it would have been bad.

But Ruby was always there. Always talking. Always and forever, right there for her.

* * *

One thing Ruby had noticed over time was that she had grown attached to the woman.

She could go on and on about her day, but she really liked to just watch Cinder.

I know it might sound a bit creepy, but this is Ruby we're talking about.

She didn't care about that.

She cared that the only person who ever seemed to need her was unable to talk to her. Unable to eat like a normal person.

Unable to do anything other than sleep for months.

Just today, the doctors said they were glad she was visiting her.

Just like they do every day.

"I guess you need me here; huh?" Ruby said to the black-haired lady.

Cinder, as always, didn't respond.

"That's okay. I don't mind if you don't answer me. The others don't answer me anyways, so it's okay." Ruby sat down on the chair by the bed and sighed.

"Today we had a weapons class, and I lost a part for Crescent Rose…I looked all over, but didn't find it."

Cinder's eyes moved. A usual occurrence when Ruby talked to her.

If you wanted to know, Ruby thought that Cinder liked it when she talked.

She sometimes got this small smile, and Ruby knew that some part of Cinder was glad Ruby was there.

"It seems we are the same. You lost your consciousness, and I lost my sweetheart.

"It's all good, though. I know nobody else wants to talk to you…but I do."

It was true. Cinder was very menacing at times when she was awake.

Everyone who had the displeasure of meeting her walked away trembling with fear.

Cinder was the school 'evil girl'. Though why she was called girl was anybody's guess.

Cinder just walked and talked with this dominance over others. She knew who the better was, and she made sure you knew it too.

For Ruby to visit her was some sort of irony. Had Cinder been awake, she probably would have made Ruby afraid of her.

But now, after so long, Ruby wasn't afraid of her. Even if she woke up and started throwing fireballs.

"I have to get to class, but I'll see you later. Stay safe, okay?"

Ruby knew she might seem crazy to talk to someone who never answered back, but really; if you could talk to someone about all of your problems and have them just answer back with a small smile, I think you would do the same.

And so Ruby left for class, not knowing that today would be the change of _everything_.

* * *

The nurse, Ms. Joy,* walked in a couple hours after Ruby left.

She checked all of the monitors, a usual routine for her.

Body functions, working like normal…nerve functions, all operating well…brain functions, operating….wait.

What was this? It said it was fluctuating. It normally did this, but it usually stopped nearly immediately.

This time, its conscious levels were rapidly going up and down; much like a vivid dream.

A dream that she might just wake up out of…

"Doctor Jenkins, Patient 12 is waking up!" She called over the radio.

"She's what?" Said a perplexed voice.

Joy turned around and smiled thankfully at the confused red head. "Oh good, Ruby! Just go over and talk to her; try and coax her to wake up.

"Doctor, we need you here in case she tries to do anything." Joy called again.

A doctor came in and checked Cinder's vitals. "She appears to be nearing consciousness. Ruby, just talk to her like normal."

Ruby quickly sat down next to Cinder. "C-cinder? If you are listening, do you think you want to wake up?

"You have been sleeping for a long time now…maybe you want to open your eyes and wake up?" Ruby said.

* * *

It was dark and cold here. I was tired of it.

I was used to the cold and dark. Some part of me said that I was usually around it.

I don't know why though.

All I heard was my Rose talking to me…just like she normally did.

It was so dull and gray here; but her voice was a soothing color on everything.

It made me feel calm and at peace. Another thing my body told me I hadn't had much of.

Wait…

Rose's voice…it was asking me something.

Something I wanted to do…what was it?

My brain felt slow and sluggish.

Wake up, brain!

Oh! That was it; that's what Rose was asking me to do!

She wanted me to wake up…

But wait…how was I supposed to do that….?

I groaned and took a breath.

Wait, was that normal?

It feels like I haven't done that in a while…

What is going on?

"Just open your eyes…it's okay; I'm right here…just like always…"

Okay…but weren't my eyes open already?

I tried to open them, but they felt like something was keeping them closed…

"You can do it Cinder; I believe in you!"

I smiled slightly. Rose always said that…

* * *

And she was right.

Because right then Cinder opened her eyes.

She instantly shut them, because of a glaring light shining in them.

"She appears to be perfectly fine…"

Cinder wondered who that was. It wasn't the soft voice of her Rose…

She hesitantly opened her eyes and saw the face of an older man with a kind face.

"_I bet he's not kind at all…"_

She frowned. _"Why would I think that?"_

"C-cinder?" Said another voice.

But this voice Cinder knew. She turned her head to the right and saw a small girl, about 15, sitting in a chair holding her hand.

The red head smiled so wide, Cinder thought her face might break. "Cinder! You're awake; I knew you could do it!"

Cinder's jaw dropped. _This_ was Rose?!

She was not at all what she thought of her.

She was better.

Cinder opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

A woman on her left with brown hair and kind eyes gave her a glass of water. "Here you go; you must be thirsty…"

And thirsty she was.

She drank that so fast, the kind woman made her slow down.

"You need to be careful; you have been asleep for a long time now."

Cinder paused. Was that why she was in the dark for so long?

Rose gently coughed, looking at Cinder. "You got hit and then you went to sleep. Don't you remember?"

Cinder paused and thought about…nothing.

There was nothing to think of. Her mind drew a blank.

She knew she was Cinder, she knew Rose was Rose, she knew that Rose was nice, and nothing else.

Not her age, birthday, and whatever else people think of.

Favorite color, favorite food…all of it; gone.

She looked up at Rose with frightened eyes. "Gone…"

Her voice was scratchy and rough; not what it should have been.

But what was that anymore?

Rose gave her a slightly horrified/sad look before smiling brightly at her.

"It's okay. I'll help you get them back."

* * *

**Okay, so this happened. I still blame ARMV7 for getting me into this dumpster in the first place…**

***I would like to thank Arieko for coming up with Joy as her name. I needed a name and he delivered! Tip of the hat to you!**

**Reviews are welcome, and I thank you to everyone who is reading this! You rule!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I dedicate this chapter to Arieko. His stories are amazing, just go take a look!**

**He specifically asked for a lemon in this chapter, so watch out!**

**This chapter is especially fluffy; so I hope you like it! Anyway, on to the story:**

* * *

"And do you know who I am?"

Cinder looked right at Ozpin and shrugged. "Nope, sorry."

Ozpin nodded and stood up from the chair by her bed. "I understand. It is completely okay. You have been in a rough time of life, and waking up to find you don't remember any of it probably isn't helping."

Cinder nodded. "Yeah…I don't even remember how old I am…" She looked up at Ozpin, trying to get some information from him.

Ozpin smirked and took a drink from his mug. "Your file says you are 17…but I think your real age is much higher than that."

Cinder was still wearing a hospital gown, and her head was still bandaged with fresh gauze. Her hair was a little mussed up from being in a bed all the time, and she looked a little paler than she used to. Ozpin looked at her, searching her face for any sign of recognition or remembrance.

But all he got was a confused look, as if trying to figure out how old she must be.

"I have some things to do, but I will tell Ruby that she can come visit you now." Ozpin said.

Cinder's face brightened a bit, and her eyes got some hope and light in them. "That would be fine…"

Cinder didn't really want to tell him that whenever the red-head was by her, her heart beat faster and she just couldn't wait for it to happen again.

Of course, Ozpin was a great Hunter not for his brawn but for his brain, and he knew exactly why she was excited. Maybe even before she knew herself…

Rose was the one reason that Cinder hadn't fallen back into a coma. Rose was the ONLY one who never seemed to give her angry looks and mutter of 'how she earned it by being a Not-Very-Nice-Word'.

Cinder had no idea how bad she was before the accident.

She just knew that Rose was there for her, and that was all that mattered.

Cinder heard footsteps, and noticed Ozpin leaving the room.

Ozpin was nice, but he seemed to know something she didn't.

"_Which is probably true..."_ Cinder realized.

Just then, Cinder caught a glimpse of something red floating down next to her bed.

Cinder smiled slightly and held out a hand.

**[Careful, Lemon ahead!]**

* * *

Cinder caught the rose petal that fluttered into her hand, a smile changing her face from what normally would be called a glare/evil look/seductive-eye-laser into an I-am-so-happy look.

Cinder heard coughing to her right and spotted Rose…Rose held a lemon in her hand and her face was contorted into a pucker.

"Gah…too sour!" She shivered and chucked the lemon into the trashcan by the bed. "I don't think I'll ever eat another lemon again!"

**[Okay, you guys are clear: no more lemons. I hope you are satisfied, Arieko!]**

Ruby was happy to see Cinder looking better and smiling.

"You feel any better? Are any memories coming back?" Ruby asked, sitting down and leaning forward expectantly.

Cinder gazed into Rose's beautiful silver eyes and couldn't help the small butterflies flying around in her stomach. "No, but it's okay. I don't mind that much…"

That was both true and not true at the same time.

Cinder was sad about losing her memory (who wouldn't be?) but she really liked to see Rose around all the time.

If Cinder got better, would Ruby want to hang out with her anymore?

"Hey Cinder?" Said a soft voice; breaking her train of thought.

"Yes, Rose?" Rose was what she called Ruby in her comatose state; and it kind of stuck.

"Just…well, are you scared when you wake up and don't know who you are?" Ruby asked, hoping she didn't overstep some sacred amnesia code.

Cinder got a fleeting look of sadness on her face before grabbing Ruby's hand. "Yes…but I always feel better when you are around."

Ruby didn't know how to deal with this news, and she just looked dumbfounded.

"You mean I really am helping you get better?" Ruby looked shocked.

Cinder nodded, and was about to say something when the door opened and Joy stood there with a big but apologetic smile. "I'm glad to see you two are talking, but I need to check Cinder to see if she is cleared for going back to a dorm and not this white room!"

Joy laughed, and both Ruby and Cinder followed along with her.

Joy was just so…joyful…

Her parents named her right, that's for sure.

"O-okay! I'll be back later; I need to get to class anyways!" Ruby said.

She hopped off of the chair and scurried off, a light trail of rose petals following her.

Along with Cinder's eyes.

[No, not like her literal eyeballs were floating down the hall following her; that would be weird!]

Joy noticed this, and she nonchalantly said as she got her stethoscope out: "So…Ruby Rose, huh?"

Cinder jerked out of her moment of daydream, and blushed slightly. "Uh…"

Yeah, turns out getting your memory wiped does a lot for your witty comebacks.

Joy laughed again. "It's all right, just calm down and let me take your vitals."

* * *

Ruby was worried. When Cinder touched her hand she felt her stomach feel all weird, like there was something in it.

And then her face kept getting hot whenever Cinder said something sweet!

Was she getting sick?!

Ruby hoped not; she wouldn't be able to visit Cinder anymore!

And there was that feeling again…

Ruby frowned. Maybe she should talk to Yang? Yang always knew what to do….

Yeah, sounded like a plan!

Ruby hurried off to find her blonde haired sister.

* * *

**A/N: So here is the next chapter! I am just trying to take my time uploading (and writing) this story, so that's probably why I'm not posting so fast. Sorry!**

**And Arieko; Are you happy? ;) You asked for a lemon…well, I gave you one! I don't think I'll do anymore lemons…maybe a lime or a grape? Or a strawberry? I don't know.**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed; including all guests! :) Thanks a bunches of roses! You guys make it worth it to keep going. **

**_Peace! Jackie out!_**


	5. Chapter 5

Yang was having an odd day.

First, Weiss was actually being nice, and had tried to tell a pun.

Then Blake was freaking out over some book that had come out.

Maybe it was Ninjas of Love? ...Yang had no clue…

And that was not counting the moment when Ruby virtually ate five cookies at once. (Which she had to admit wasn't very much…Rubes must have lost her touch…)

But anyway, Yang had come back to the dorm to calm down a bit, only to find Ruby pacing like mad by the window.

"Uh, hey Rubes; what's up?" Yang asked.

Ruby looked concerned, and she frowned slightly. "Yang…I think I might be getting sick…"

Now Ruby hated being sick. Just hated it. So Yang knew what this must have meant to the red-clad girl.

"What makes you say that?" Yang was already moving towards Ruby to check her temperature and whatnot.

"Yaaaang!" Ruby said, while Yang was basically doing everything someone could do to see if someone was sick. "Yang, no I just feel really weird sometimes."

At this Yang perked up. _What could she possible mean?_

Ruby for some reason felt suddenly not so sure about telling someone…but it was Yang! And so she did.

"Just, when I am around this one person I keep feeling really hot…like, my face feels hot and my stomach starts to feel weird, and I breathe faster and I just don't know what to do maybe I'm getting sick!"

Yang, the master of figuring out what Ruby was talking about when she got nervous, was confused.

"You mean…around this one person you feel all of those things? But not around anybody else?" She asked, suddenly figuring it out.

Ruby nodded, getting excited Yang understood. "Yeah!"

Yang blew out a breath… "Uh jeez sis…I don't think you are getting sick…"

Ruby's jaw dropped. "I'm NOT?!"

Yang chuckled a bit. "Nope, you seem to have the hots for someone…so, who's the lucky guy?"

'Lucky' wasn't her immediate thought…more like… 'How high could she get him to scream if he ever hurt her Rubbles…'

Ruby was just thinking about what this must mean…

Yang thought it was a guy…and Ruby was suddenly not sure Yang wouldn't just go and punch Cinder in the face; making her go into another coma…

Ruby paled at the thought and just blurted, "ByYanggottagothanks!" before leaving in a blur of red petals.

"But Rubes; you never…" Yang started to say, before seeing that her sister was long gone. "Told me who it was…"

I mean, Jaune was sort of taken by Weiss, (a one-sided thing on his part, so it wasn't him) and Ren was not really someone Ruby talked to a lot…

Well, there was that Cinder lady that Ruby spent a lot of time with, but she was just a friend. Ruby felt bad that Yang had caused someone to go into a coma.

Yang would have at least visited her…if it wasn't for whom it was who she hit.

Cinder was a total jerk to Yang, and acted like she knew so much better than her.

Which pissed Yang the hell off. So Yang was a bit sorry that Cinder was in a coma, but didn't feel like sticking around much.

So Ruby probably was just there to help her get her memories back…

Now who else was there….?

* * *

Leaving Yang to brainstorm, we zoom in on Ruby, who had run away from Yang and found herself right outside the door to Cinder's infirmary room.

But when Ruby pushed it open…nobody was there.

"Cinder? You here?" Ruby called out.

Nobody answered, but there was a note attached to the empty bed.

It read:

_Miss Rose,_

_We have taken Miss Fall to her new room so she will be more comfortable. At your earliest convenience it would be much appreciated to visit her in room number 235, West Hall._

_Thank you._

Ruby stuffed the note into her pocket and ran down the halls.

When she finally got back on track (she got lost in the East Wing…long story) Ruby rushed down the hall.

233…234…aha! 235!

Ruby slowed down and gently opened the door.

It was set up a lot like the RWBY dorm, but the bed on the right was unused and empty.

The one on the left had Cinder sitting on top of it and leaning against the wall.

Cinder was no longer dressed in the white hospital gown, but in black jeans and an orange sweater. Her hair was brushed and styled like it normally was with a twist. Instead of it covering her eye, it was by the side of her face.

Ruby felt her stomach do that weird flip again.

"Hey Rose; you going to stand there all day or what?" Cinder asked.

Ruby jerked out of her daze and smiled slightly. "Uh…you changed…"

Cinder smirked slightly at that. "Obviously…so, what do you think of my new dorm?"

Ruby looked around and shrugged. "It looks…empty almost."

Cinder liked Ruby's sense of innocent honesty. She just told it how she saw it, and that was good enough for her.

"Well I guess I could put up a few posters…or maybe just pin you to the wall? That way I can look at you whenever I want." Cinder said smoothly.

Her voice had been slowly returning towards its natural state of oh-what's-that-yeah-that-silk-is-my-voice, and Cinder was secretly proud of it.

Ruby just blushed slightly. "Uh…I don't really like it when I am pinned to a wall. It gets boring after a while…" She said, getting an odd look in her eyes.

Cinder had to ask what story was behind that one…

Ruby shrugged. "Yang got bored and I was hyper. She thought it would be a good way of letting me calm down."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "So she _pinned _you to a _wall_?"

"You were going to do the same thing! I think it's not your place to judge…" Ruby declared.

Cinder was about to comment on that, but there was a knock on the door.

"Miss Fall? Can I come in? It's Joy."

Cinder and Ruby shared a grin before Ruby opened the door.

As to why they were smiling…that was coming in about five seconds.

"Hey you two; having much progress?"

Five…

Cinder shook her head. "Nothing seems to be jogging my memory…"

_Four…_

Joy nodded. "It's okay; these things take time…"

_Three…_

Cinder and Ruby shared another look; both thinking about the same thing…

_Two…_

Nurse Joy put a hand to her head and faked a look of confusion.

_One…_

"Now…I made these cookies…who will ever eat them?"Joy said.

_Zero…_

Ruby jumped with joy over to Joy and jumped in place. (re-read that bit, because it is funny to write) "COOKIES!"

Cinder wasn't very far behind the scythe wielding girl.

When Cinder was just lying in bed with nothing to do but watch as Ruby devours cookies by the dozen, she developed a taste for sweets.

Now here she was, eating them with her. Granted, not like an animal that had just discovered food, but she did eat at least three. She didn't want to gain too much weight.

Even though Cinder was a little gaunt at the moment. Being in a coma made her fairly skinny, and a little on the weak side.

Ruby, always full of energy, was there to help her walk around and do stuff.

Cinder realized that maybe she was starting to like the little red-head…maybe a little too much…

But seriously, out of all the people in the school, Ruby was the only person who treated Cinder like a person too. (Besides the staff, but they tended to give her pitying looks that she hated)

But of course Cinder shook this off as maybe amnesiac dependency? Cinder was depending on Ruby so much, and was the only familiar thing about Beacon…it seemed almost like maybe it wasn't real feelings?

And then Ruby finished swallowing the vast amount of cookies and said, "Did you bring milk?!" that made Cinder rethink that statement…

* * *

**SO sorry for all of you amazing readers out there! I was just not really feeling up to writing a chapter, and I apologize for that. :(**

**Sorry to keep you all waiting! I was starting to type up a chapter, but then I got sick so I didn't finish it as soon as I wanted to.**

**THANK YOU to everyone who is following and reviewing this story! I just came up with this idea and thought, "Meh, I'll write it up; see what happens…" And you guys blow my mind. I will update sporadically, so I apologize in advance for that.**

_**Have a great day out there! :) Peace! Jackie out!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, so maybe Cinder did like the red-head…

So what? I mean, Cinder could hardly keep from loving possibly the cutest person in Beacon.

Ruby then rushed past Cinder in the hall. "Sorry I gotta go; Ozpin called me, see you la-" and then she was down the hall and around the corner; her words lost in the trail of rose petals.

Cinder held out a hand, and one of the petals landed softly on it.

The rest of the petals on the floor slowly dissolved (a very handy thing when you rushed down the halls, otherwise the cleaning staff would be _very_ upset).

Cinder went to drop her hand; thinking the rose petal would dissolve as well.

But it didn't. It just sat in her hand; staring at her.

The amnesiac looked at the petal in wonder; raising the hand to her face to see what kind of trick this was.

But there was nothing but the sweet smell of roses…and a faint wisp of cookies. Just like Ruby smelled like.

Just then, she heard footsteps behind her, and she dropped her hand. The rose petal slowly dissolved on its way towards the ground; like nothing had happened.

Nurse Joy found Cinder staring at the ground in awe.

* * *

"You think she still remembers us? She doesn't even remember her own life; how can she remember who she was allied with?" The silver haired boy huffed.

A cane was roughly pressed against his chest. "If she does remember, then we all go back to being her slaves. It is not worth the risk, kid."

"That's right…we should go and take care of her right away. If she remembers us and comes to use us for her plans again...that would suck." Said the green-haired girl, remembering all those times she had to do horrible non-paying jobs for Cinder and nearly died.

Roman dropped his cane and stalked off. "Then it seems I have nothing more to do here. Take care of her and I'll call it even."

Emerald looked at Mercury and shrugged. "Come on, hot-head. Let's go."

* * *

And go they did. But what they both were not expecting was a Rose that had very sharp thorns indeed…

* * *

**A/N: Okay…um…hi? *hides under desk* (Please don't hurt me!) I know it's been a while since I updated this story. (since last year I guess, lol) BUT I wanted to take a break from writing stories while I was on school break for the winter. And so yay! Updated! Sorry for taking so long, guys. I know this chapter is short, but I just wanted to write up a small bit telling you guys that I haven't forgotten about this story. :) Stay cool!**

_**Peace! Jackie out!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: **

**In which we learn Ozpin belongs in the landfill…because he ships trash… ;)**

* * *

Something else they did not expect was that Ruby was staying with Cinder in her dorm until Cinder was used to being alone.

Cinder was so used to Rose being by her side that being alone made her remember the darkness from her coma; not a pleasant memory.

So as Emerald and Mercury snuck into the dorm -one from the door and one from the window- they thought they had this thing in the bag.

Emerald had her daggers out, and could make out Cinder's sleeping form.

Mercury was to keep an eye on the door, while Emerald 'did the deed'.

Emerald drew her arm back and threw a dagger, impaling…nothing?

There was a clanging sound, and Emerald could see her dagger fly across the room.

There was this odd blade in front of where Cinder used to sleep, and there was a hooded figure standing there.

Emerald gulped. There was no way that was there before, yet it had appeared in a split second.

"Mercury! Scram!" She went to leave, but in a blur something blocked her way.

The door slammed shut and Emerald could slowly feel her blood turn to ice.

She felt something behind her; so she quickly spun around and threw a roundhouse kick.

It didn't collect, and she rolled and drew her other dagger, switching it into pistol mode. A breeze of air moved behind her, and before she knew it she was sprawled on the ground.

She could feel the familiar cold of steel pressed against her neck, and she closed her eyes.

There was a soft click, followed by Cinder exclaiming in surprise.

For upon turning the light on to see what was going on in her dorm, Cinder saw Ruby Rose was holding a blade to a random green-haired girl.

"Oh."

* * *

"You say you found her sneaking into Miss Fall's dorm room? Was there anyone else with her?" Ozpin asked. He looked curious about this situation, but seemed to be holding something back.

Emerald was held captive by Glynda holding her in this stasis-like state. She could still hear though, and was praying that Mercury had left before this red-haired grim reaper saw him.

"I heard someone, but I'm not sure who it was. She also tried to kill Cinder. With this dagger." Ruby placed Emerald's lovely dagger on the desk in front of Ozpin, and Ozpin took a long look at the dagger before turning his gaze on Emerald.

Let it be said that Ozpin was usually a kind man; Caring almost, especially to kids. But the look he gave her was anger and rage and protectiveness. "You think…you can just sneak into my school and try and kill one of my students…?" He spoke dangerously low, and Emerald gulped again.

She didn't dare speak, but she wouldn't have been able to had she tried.

"Glynda; put her in one of the detention blocks." Ozpin spoke through nearly-clenched teeth.

Before Emerald could ask what that meant, she was whisked away by Goodwitch.

* * *

Ruby shuffled her feet; eager to go back and see if Cinder was all right. Ozpin picked up on this.

He sat down at his desk and took a sip of his lukewarm coffee. "You and Miss Fall seem to be getting really close…"

Ruby blushed a bit, and this was all Ozpin needed to know. You don't just get a small smile and blush for no reason…

"That is good; she needs someone to take care of her. Have a good day, Miss Rose. Your classes have been put on hold until tomorrow; I suggest you use your time wisely."

Ruby smiled and nodded. "Thanks Professor Ozpin!" She hurried off, and Ozpin watched her slowly dissolving rose petals land on the floor.

"You're very welcome…" Ozpin tried to hide his smirk, but then realized there was no need to; since the room was empty.

Oh yes, dear readers. Ozpin was shipping this ship. And he was going to make sure it set sail….

But has it already?

* * *

Ruby poked her head around the door frame; seeing Nurse Joy checking Cinder's vitals and other doctor-ish stuff.

Cinder looked shaken, but that was understandable given that someone(s) had just tried to kill her…but Ruby was stricken with this sudden feeling in her stomach again. That only happened when Cinder was around…what was this odd but somewhat likeable feeling?

Cinder just sat there oblivious to the ogling and let Joy take her blood pressure, sighing slightly.

Someone had tried to kill her and all that was running through her head was that she knew her…

She didn't know from where, or how, but she knew that green-haired girl. But if she did know her, then why was she trying to kill her?

As far as she knew, Cinder hadn't done anything bad…I mean, there was this whole amnesia thing, and that kind of blocked out a bunch of stuff…

Just then, Cinder caught a glimpse of red, and she looked over to see Rose leaning around the corner…just staring at her.

But it wasn't the creepy kind of staring. No, it was the love struck kind of staring that schoolgirls give their crush…

And Ruby was giving it to Cinder...

Cinder got this small warm feeling in her cheeks, and she wasn't stupid. She knew that she was blushing…

This also became her second clue.

But was Ruby serious about liking her? Because Cinder was an amnesiac and had trouble walking, and was basically useless.

Ruby just then seemed to notice she was staring, so she quickly looked down at her feet and shuffled them.

Nurse Joy heard, and after telling Cinder she would be right back, she stepped into the hallway with Ruby.

Ruby took this as a bad sign, and ran a hand through her hair. "Is…is Cinder okay?"

"Oh, Cinder is doing all right thanks to you. Ozpin told me about what you did."

Joy looked at Ruby and smiled in a motherly way. "It was very brave of you to do that. You are a hero, you know?"

At the word hero, Ruby's head jerked up and her wide silver eyes looked at Joy in awe. "I am…?" She looked so shocked, Nurse Joy laughed.

"Yeah, you were a hero when you helped Cinder wake up. Now you saved her life, and are a hero twice. All for one person…"

Joy had been around long enough to know when two people liked each other, and it was plain as dust they did. Maybe if she gave her a nudge or two to get this ship sailing….

Ruby just nodded. "Yeah, but I was just doing what was right…" She shrugged, but Joy could see her slight blush.

"I'll finish examining her and then you can come in and see her; okay?" Joy asked. (More like stated, because she still has some nurse genes in her despite what ship she ships)

Ruby nodded again. "Uh, sure thing!"

* * *

Nurse Joy was acting weird…almost like she knew that Ruby had a crush on Cinder. [That she does know, but shhh don't tell her]

Ruby stopped pacing the hall (a habit picked up from Weiss) and realized what she just thought.

Crush…

How true, because Ruby suddenly felt crushed by all these emotions.

Out of all of them, fear was the strongest.

I mean, how could Cinder love her? She was Ruby! She couldn't even socialize properly with Cinder!

If Ruby was even to tell Cinder….how much could she hope that she wouldn't be outright rejected and unable to even be around her anymore.

Both thoughts killed her heart a bit…

So Ruby sighed and decided to wait a bit to tell Cinder…and try not to let it show before then.

* * *

And Cinder had just the same thoughts and came to the same conclusion…so both of them loved the other yet didn't want the person to know she loved her back.

A complicated system when you think about it…

But what was more complicated was what a certain red-haired man in a white coat was trying to figure out…

* * *

"How could she get caught?! She was chosen by _Cinder_ because of her skills! And you tell me she's at Beacon in a cell?!" Roman was beyond pissed at this point.

Mercury just shrugged. "There was someone in her room; she blocked the kill strike and captured Em. I escaped hoping to rescue her and then we both can take out Cinder."

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. "No…you aren't exactly the quietest person I know,"

"Hey!" Mercury interjected; which was promptly ignored.

"So I was thinking about using Neo for this mission. She knows when to shut her mouth, unlike you."

Mercury scoffed. "Not like she ever opens it…"

Roman smirked slightly. "Exactly. Now, go send for Neo; we have a job for her."

* * *

**Yay chapter finally! :D I know this could be longer, but I was tired and I'm sorry. :/ But chapter! So please don't kill me…**

**As ever, thanks for you amazing people following and reviewing and just being generally awesome. :)**

_**Peace! Jackie out!**_


	8. Chapter 8

Ruby entered Cinder's dorm room, emotions still a swirl. But she tried to not show how nervous she was at letting Cinder know her 'secret' and smiled.

"H-hi Cinder!" Wow, stuttering already? Yeah, this was going to go over well…

Cinder looked over at the red-themed girl and smiled back. "Hello Rose. I heard you got the day off of classes today? What are you planning to do with your free-time?"

Cinder spoke casually, not trying to let on just how much she wanted Rose to keep her company. She was really _really_ starting to enjoy Ruby's company…

Ruby grinned and flopped down on the bed next to where Cinder was sitting. "I am going to stay here and make sure no one tries anything again. We still don't know if there was another attacker (though I think there was) so I'm keeping you safe."

She suddenly sat up. "But, like, if you want some space or something I can totally do that becauseyouareawesomeandamazingandIrespectyourspacestillthoughIwouldbesadbecauseIlikeyouandohgodIsaidthatoutloud!"

Cinder blinked, trying to make that rapid-fire speech make more sense than gibberish.

Ruby still had her hands clamped over her mouth, and she was slowly turning red…while Cinder blinked in confusion again.

"You…think I am awesome and amazing….and you….like me?" She said; more confused now that she had made sense of the words…but they still didn't make sense.

Ruby made a small 'oh-god-someone-kill-me-now' noise and just blushed further. "Um….yes? If that's weirdItotallyunderstandandhey,youmightnotevenlikegirlswhichwouldbereallysadbutitsokayIgetthatand-" The rest of Ruby's nervous words were halted when she felt something press against her lips.

Well, more like someone…

Ruby just sat there in shock as she felt Cinder's incredibly soft lips meet hers…

Cinder's hand reached out and gently cupped Ruby's cheek, all the while gently pressing her lips to Ruby's.

Ruby had never kissed anyone, and so this being a new experience and such she didn't really know what to do, so she just tensed up.

Cinder sensed this, and instantly pulled back. "Rose…I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…I just…"

And Ruby was suddenly feeling a bit better since she had made the beautiful woman grasp for words.

"No…It's okay! I just didn't know what to do…it was totally fine…like, really really fine…"

They both smiled, and Cinder pushed a strand of hair away from Ruby's face.

Just then, the door opened and Nurse Joy walked in rather loudly. "Sooo I came to do a check-up, and oh! Ruby, good you're here. Ozpin wants you to meet him in his office asap, and Cinder, well, we just have the usual."

The glorious moment of two people realizing the other liked them back and sharing a first kiss shattered like a tea-cup held by a clumsy person, Ruby blushed even deeper (she was really getting red now) "So…um…I'll see you later?"

Cinder laughed and nodded. "Yes, Rose, I'll see you later."

After Ruby hurried off to meet Ozpin, Joy looked at Cinder with raised eyebrows. "So…something happened between you two…"

Now it was Cinder's turn to blush, but she laughed. "I guess you could say that…"

Joy smiled (Because she had sort of walked in on them kissing…on 'accident') and checked Cinder's vitals again…

Her pulse was strangely high…..

* * *

"You sent for me, Professor Ozpin?"

"Ah, Miss Rose, I know I told you to keep an eye on Cinder, but I need you to do something for me.

See, I have an informant who says that there might be another attempt soon."

Ruby gaped. "WHAT?!" She looked ready to speed out of the office any moment.

"Calm down, calm down, we have student-clothed guardsmen patrolling double-time right now; if anyone tries to get inside the school they will not get far."

Ruby took a deep breath (still out of breath from a certain previous experience) and a sudden look of determination appeared on her face.

"I will do anything to keep Cinder safe…"

Ozpin had seen many students say things with determination, but the way Ruby said it was a promise; a solemn oath that she would undoubtedly keep to her last breath…

"I'm sure you will…Here; take this file. It contains some information about some of C- Well, some information about the people that would try and assassinate Cinder." He sent the information to Ruby's scroll and waved dismissively. "That will be all, Miss Rose. Thank you."

Ruby nodded and hurried off to read the Intel.

* * *

Yang and Weiss were walking down the halls, both arguing over something that was said in Professor Port's classroom that day.

"Yang, let's be logical about this. With the amount of armor that Boarbatusks possess, if you were to be hit by them it would severely incapacitate you; and if not that then your Aura reserves would be drained exponentially!"

Yang laughed. "Look, Weissy, all I'm saying is that I would be knocked back but I would take the energy it had and use it against it."

Weiss stopped her brisk walk and stared at Yang; who was a little ways in front of her. "I thought your semblance was fire or something; or just hitting things with your fists."

Yang laughed again. "No, the fire is the energy activating and stuff. But I do have a knack for hitting things."

Weiss sighed. "Yes you do…or throwing things like snack machines at people…" She muttered.

"Hey! I didn't know that she was there! I didn't try and hit her…" Yang finished softly.

Weiss rolled her eyes and continued back towards their dorm. "So if the fire is the energy activating…then when you hit your fists it causes…"

And thus their conversation continued; all the while Yang laughing and the Snow Queen hiding her secret smiles at Yang's antics and stories and explanations.

* * *

Ruby sighed and rubbed her eyes, it being so late and she was still in the library; doing research.

"Ugh…who knew that the White Fang would be involved…" She dropped her head onto the table and sighed again.

"What's up, Ruby?" Ruby looked up and spotted Blake sitting down at the desk, facing her.

Ruby quickly shoved the papers into a folder marked "Confidential" and grinned innocently. "Oh, hey, Blake, was just you know, reading stuff and stuff and man are you hungry? Cause I could go for some cookies right now, yeah let's go get some cookies!"

Ruby jumped up and grabbed the folder and sped off towards… _not_ the kitchen.

Blake shook her head. "What's up with you, Ruby?"

* * *

Oh you know, just trying to figure out why Cinder would be targeted by a whole dust load of criminals and a whole terrorist organization.

Ruby sighed and looked up.

_Whoa, when did I get here?_

Here being, of course, Cinder's room.

Ruby suddenly remembered how Cinder's lips felt on hers… She shivered, trying to shake off the intense butterflies.

She extended a hand to knock on the door, but a voice stopped her.

"Can I help you with anything?"

Ruby blushed just hearing Cinder's silky voice, and rubbed the back of her neck, facing Cinder who stood in the hall. "Well…I don't know…I just kind of was working on something but I hit a dead end so I thought we could chill or something or maybe not…I don't know…"

Cinder laughed and opened her dorm room; holding the door open for the shorter girl. "Of course we can chill, Rose; make yourself at home. Ha, you already do."

Ruby grinned and made her way into the room, with the bed on one side and a couch with a TV on the other. (Cinder recovering from her coma had some definite perks when it came to entertainment.)

She flopped down on the couch, tossing the folder onto the small coffee table. "Sooo…what you want to do?"

Cinder smirked and sat down next to Ruby, shoving her legs to the side to make room for her on the couch. "Hmm…you choose, Rose."

Ruby covered her face with her hand. "Gah! You know I'm bad at choosing things…um…."

Ruby was still lost in thought, biting her lip in concentration; trying to figure out what they could do, when Cinder kissed her again.

She just couldn't help it! Ruby's lips were soft and sweet and warm…and she was sitting there looking so adorable… Cinder needed to do something!

Ruby was still new to this kissing thing, so by no means was she skilled, but Cinder really really loved the feel of those impossibly soft lips on hers.

Ruby leaned forward a bit, putting a bit more pressure onto Cinder's lips, and Cinder returned the pressure.

So lost in kissing each other, Ruby and Cinder didn't hear someone knock on their door.

Nor did they notice a flaming (and I mean literally flaming) blonde standing in the doorway.

"What. The. Hell." Yang spit out, her eyes rimmed with red.

_Now_ they noticed.

They broke apart, breathing a bit heavily, and Ruby cringed. "Yang…"

Yang shook her head. "No, I want to know why you are kissing Cinder! Cinder! The mean girl who was an evil jerk to everyone; including you!"

Ruby glanced over at Cinder, whose eyes widened a bit. "Yang…stop…"

"She always walked around like she was so much better than everyone else!"

Cinder reached a hand up and held her head, her face mixed with several emotions.

Ruby looked back at Yang. "Yang, stop right now"

"She never knew when to stop or when to not be a jerk! Why are you kissing that…that…villain!?"

"YANG! Get the fuck out of this room right now!" Ruby yelled; her eyes aflame with a fire of her own.

Yang opened her mouth to retort, but Ruby beat her to it. "No, Yang, shut up and get out. _Now._"

Yang quickly made her exit, knowing how bad she fucked things up.

* * *

Ruby looked over at Cinder, who was shaking with…laughter?

Cinder leaned her head back and laughed loud and long; a chuckle that Ruby loved to hear. "My my, Rose…you swore…"

Ruby turned red. "Ugh…yeah I did…I just…gah" Words failed her at this moment.

They had been interrupted the first time, and the second time they were interrupted AND Cinder was called horrible things. Not good things to Ruby.

Cinder must have read her mind, because she smiled at the red-head. "It's okay, Rose…I don't mind your sister."

Cinder paused and a sad smile made its way onto her face. "I must have been pretty horrible, huh?"

Ruby went to shake her head, but stopped. "Well…horrible is putting it too harsh. More like, Not-the-nicest-person-in-Beacon…"

Cinder smirked. "I know I'm not…I think you hold that title, little Rose…"

Ruby turned a deeper shade of red. "Jeez Cinder I uh…hehe…man…"

Cinder laughed and gave Ruby a giant hug, leaning back on the couch to effectively cuddle the smaller girl. "Shh…you don't need to say anything."

Ruby made a small 'eep' sound, and Cinder laughed more. "Relax, Rose…we are just chilling like villains…right?"

Ruby gave her own laugh then, but it sounded forced. "Yeah….chilling like villains…" She looked at the folder on the table and Cinder could have sworn pain flickered across her eyes, before she looked back at Cinder and smiled.

"So…you know anything good to watch on Dustflix?"

* * *

Turns out no, Dustflix did not have anything good to watch, but they found a semi-good one that wasn't too bad.

"And that moment when he took his gun and was all "Boom, kapow!" That was awesome…" Ruby looked into the distance with this small smile on her face, and Cinder chuckled.

"You are so cute when you get excited about things, Rose."

Ruby blushed and opened her mouth to say something, but just then the intercom throughout Beacon said, "Will Miss Rose please report to Professor Ozpin as soon as possible; Will Miss Rose report to Professor Ozpin's office immediately."

Ruby sighed. "Duty calls…I'll talk to you later!"

She jumped off the couch and hurried out the door, wondering what Ozpin could want this time…

Meanwhile…

* * *

Cinder glanced at the folder on the small wooden coffee table that read; "Confidential" and quirked a brow.

"Now why would Ruby have this…?"

Cinder tried to distract herself from the folder; she really did…

_[Emphasis on the word 'tried_'_…]_

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Cinder picked up the folder and started sifting through it.

Cinder's eyes widened and she hastily looked everywhere but the information was all the same. She put a hand over her mouth; dropping the folder and its contents on the coffee table.

"No…no…I, that can't…it's not…Me…" Cinder muttered, feeling her eyes mist up.

What was in that folder was Cinder's life. But not the Cinder that was reading it.

"_No. Just no…this isn't happening…"_

Just then, Cinder felt a massive headache, and she held her head and slid down the side of the couch and sat on the floor with her head between her knees.

"Ungh…" Cinder groaned and closed her eyes tight, the pain in her head reaching such an intense peak that the onyx haired woman passed out…

* * *

Cinder had a memory gain just then; she knew it as soon as the headache came.

The folder held many things in it that triggered her memory, and her lost memories.

She now knew that the girl that tried to kill her was named Emerald, and that she was a sneaky thief and very useful to her- er, the old Cinder.

It was like a dream; tons of memories clicked into place all in split seconds; names, places, people, plans…

Plans!

Cinder had a plan…a plan that would affect all of Beacon…the whole of Remnant maybe if it all went according to plan.

But now…where was the motivation?

Lost in some memories that having been returned to their owner, have lost their meaning, their purpose?

Cinder knew the in's and out's of her entire plan; she had waited years to be able to put it into action…

But now…that Cinder was gone.

Replaced with a Cinder that knew what it was like to be defenseless and crippled; not being able to fight back.

That knew that as much thorns in the world may be…there was always a Rose…

Rose.

Ruby Rose; the one person that helped Cinder; spent time with her even though Cinder had truly been a villain.

And was that her voice just now?

"_Cinder…"_

Cinder groaned a bit; she could start feeling that she was lying on the floor in a painful position.

"Cinder! Wake up!" Cinder felt a hand shaking her shoulder and she jerked awake.

Ruby was leaning over her with a worried expression on her face, and just behind her was Joy coming in, holding a bag probably full of medical supplies.

"I'm…fine, Ruby."

Ruby squinted at Cinder. She never called her Ruby, so she was probably lying to make her 'feel better'.

Ruby huffed. "Cinder; I come back from the office to find you passed out on the floor. Something happened."

Nurse Joy placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby, I think it would be best if you waited out in the hall or something; okay? Just let me take care of Miss Fall; it's my job, all right?"

Ruby sighed and trudged slowly out into the hall.

Cinder sighed too, and held her head wincing.

Joy shined a light into her eyes and hummed thoughtfully. "You got a memory flood didn't you? Everything came rushing back at once and your brain didn't know what to do with all the new information so it just took a little nap for a bit. You should be fine in an hour or so."

Cinder nodded her thanks. "Yeah I did…I remember a lot now…" Her voice was tired and so Joy decided not to press what memories she got.

"Sometimes people have things they wish they could forget, or live without…but those moments are what makes us who we are today. You can let those moments define you, or you can let those moments teach you."

With those wise words, Joy picked up her bag and turned to go. "If you need anything, you have your scroll; contact me if you have any more problems or complications."

Cinder nodded her head again. "Thank you…"

Joy went to leave again, but stopped. "Do you want me to tell Ruby to give you some space or is it all right if she comes in?"

Cinder slowly stood up and sighed. "Just tell her to give me a few minutes…"

Joy nodded and silently left.

* * *

Ruby waited patiently down the hall; and she saw Joy leave and give her a small smile and hold up an index finger, telling her to wait.

Ruby sighed.

"_Great…wonder what happened? What if she remembered that she was kind of mean or something? What if she did and she doesn't want to hang out with me anymore?!"_

Her thoughts being no comfort whatsoever, Ruby started pacing up and down the hall.

Just then, the door to Cinder's dorm room opened and Cinder glanced out and glimpsed Ruby pacing down the hall.

When Ruby turned around, Cinder smiled at her. "I'm all good, Rose."

Ruby looked up and a small smile grew on her face.

She hurried over and carefully touched a few fingers to Cinder's head. "You're okay now?"

Her worried gaze moved down to Cinder's eyes, and the look in them stopped her in her tracks.

Cinder never looked so happy before…I mean, sure she still had a bit of sadness from coming to the realization of her previous memories, but that just made her appreciate Ruby so much more…

Cinder slowly moved her head lower, and Ruby inclined her head a bit so that the two's pair of lips could meet.

As this was the third time since kissing each other, it went better than the last two attempts. This time Ruby felt a tongue run along her lower lip and she gasped; effectively letting Cinder slip a tongue in her mouth.

Ruby melted under such an intense kiss; and the two probably could have been kissing forever were it not for a small detail…

Air.

Yeah; air is good.

The two broke apart and Ruby blushed as she tried to regain her breath.

Cinder tried not to blush as much; but you could see just the faintest tint of red on her cheeks.

"You're getting better at this, Rose…" Cinder smirked.

Ruby grinned, still blushing like crazy. "Well practice makes perfect, right?"

Cinder gently led the shorter girl inside her dorm room and shut the door behind her. "I think that's correct…want to practice some more?"

Ruby laughed, and Cinder felt those small butterflies flutter around in her stomach again.

"I think some practice would be good…"

And pretty soon; the two of them were getting in a lot of practice…

* * *

**A/N: Well….I hope you guys like this chapter! :D I had such writers block on the kissing scene, haha I'm so sorry. And I'm also sorry to not be updating as often as I could.**

**I write by the seat of my pants, and I usually have to be in the right mood to write stories otherwise what I write will just end up total…crap basically.**

**I know this isn't an excuse for taking forever to update, so I'm sorry! But rest assured; I won't abandon a story. Might take me a while to update but I won't just quit a story! And this one has only maybe 5 chapters left maybe. If it's really short chapters then 5 and if longer chapters then maybe 3-4. Just a heads up; thank you SO MUCH, everyone, for reading and reviewing; following and clicking favorite. You guys rock my socks off!**

**Peace! Jackie out!**


	9. Chapter 9 A Friend

**Chapter 9: A friend**

* * *

Neo gave a twirl of her umbrella and teleported into the security office, a medium-sized room with computers lining two walls and desks with map and other miscellaneous items on them.

Before the small amount of guards on the night shift noticed her sudden presence (she had even opted to using a darker suit; much like her favorite one but better for stealth missions) quietly dispatching the few guards that were on the night shift with a few spins and kicks.

Neo stalked over to the computers and quickly moved through the security cameras until she got to the one she wanted. Ruby and Cinder were cuddled on the couch in Cinder's dorm; fast asleep.

Neo smirked. It was all too easy... She thought of her orders from Roman and her smirk widened.

**Earlier ****…**

"_Look, Neo; just get in, take care of Cinder, rescue those two dimwits and get right back out. As soon as you…do whatever it is that you do, Beacon will know. So hurry and get the green-headed devil out before anyone notices; yeah? As soon as you do that; you can have Cinders share of the heist money…she won't be need it anymore…"_

All that money…all that dust…would be hers…

Neo shook herself out of her trance and glared at the screen.

"_Soon, Cinder; you will regret everything; even those precious plans of yours; costing all of us… But most of all, you won't have a certain Rose anymore…not once I'm done with her…"_

Neo glanced once more at the screen and then teleported again right into Cinder's dorm; no one the wiser. Neo would have laughed if the sight of her crush cuddling that annoying red-head wasn't in front of her.

Neo glowered at Ruby and slowly drew her long blade out from her umbrella, the blade glinting darkly in the dimly lit room.

"_Your time has come, Red…"_

Neo raised her weapon high before plunging the blade straight into Ruby's heart.

Or at least; that was what she was planning on. But what she wasn't planning on was Ruby being a restless sleeper and moving at the last second to avoid the deathly blade.

Of course, Neo didn't miss her target completely, and as the blade dug into Ruby's chest Ruby jerked awake; yelling loudly.

Ruby only got the barest glimpse of Neo standing over her with those murderous pink and brown eyes, slipping the blade out of Ruby's bleeding body before the red-head slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Cinder was jolted awake by her partner yelling, and Cinder opened her eyes just in time to see Neo pulling her blade out of Ruby, and Ruby fall off the couch and lie on the floor. A small pool of blood began to spread outwards from under Ruby like a snake, slithering onto the floor and spreading further and further.

Cinder felt the room start to get hotter, and before she knew it she had powerful flame balls summoned in her hands.

She glared at Neo; who just grinned mischievously and beckoned Cinder forward.

Cinder wasted no time in launching her attacks; and seemed to go all out, trying her hardest to hit Neo with one of her balls of fire.

Neo, however, was seemingly effortlessly dodging the attacks in neat flips and spins.

Cinder huffed and switched tactics.

Instead of trying to hit Neo, she made it look as if she was aiming for Neo, when in reality she was herding Neo into the far corner of the room.

Neo flipped out of the way of one ball of fire before coming face to face with another one. She tried to move out of the way, but she collided with the wall.

Before she could teleport, the flames were upon her and she blocked them with her umbrella just in time.

She moved the umbrella out of the way only to receive a swift kick to the side and a vicious punch to her gut and face.

"Don't! Touch! My! ROSE!" Cinder yelled. With each word, she followed up by a kick or punch; each with the force of someone protecting their partner from harm.

Neo quickly realized that this was a battle she was losing and tried to break away from Cinder long enough to teleport away to safety. Cinder picked up on this and furiously gripped Neo by the neck; her hand a blazing flame and starting to burn Neo.

Just then the door opened and Glynda, Ozpin and several other teachers rushed in.

Cinder threw Neo to the ground and motioned for one of the teachers to grab her. Professor Port quickly handcuffed Neo and led her away; accompanied by three of the teachers.

Glynda was looking after Ruby and Cinder knelt down and looked her partner over. There was just one wound, but it was bleeding a lot and Ruby was starting to look even paler than usual.

"Quick; we have to get her to the Med-Ward!" Cinder ushered; moving to pick up Ruby.

Glynda held out an arm and stopped Cinder. "Any movement could harm or even kill Ruby, let me place a stillment spell on her and then we can put her on a stretcher right away."

Glynda quickly waved her riding crop and held out a hand, a small wave of light passing over Ruby and seemingly stopping time for her-and blood flow.

"Quick, set her on this!" Glynda grabbed Ruby's legs while Cinder gently grabbed her shoulders, and they set her on the stretcher.

"Get her to the Med-Ward!" She urged. Professor Oobleck and Strohm* grabbed the ends of the stretcher and quickly disappeared out of sight.

Cinder went to follow them, but Glynda stopped her. "Cinder...I assume that that was Neo, one of your previous allies?"

Cinder sighed long and hard. "…Yes…" Obviously, she didn't like to admit to Glynda that she had been involved in…less than honorable…practices.

Professor Goodwitch patted her shoulder. "I know this must be hard for you, but I have to know if you think they will try again."

Cinder shook her head. "Neo is probably among the best fighters we have; but more specifically she is an assassin. She's…she was…a formidable ally. Had she succeeded, I would say no…but she hasn't; so I have no idea. I would be ready for anything just in case."

Glynda nodded. "I see…for now, why don't you stay inside the school grounds and tell someone before you go anywhere? You could talk to Ms. Sustrai if you think that will help you get more information?"

Cinder pondered that thought for a moment. "Lead the way, Professor."

Cinder stalked into the Med-Ward, her eyes seemingly burning into anything that dared to look at her. She stopped at the front desk and put a hand on her forehead; trying to calm down.

"Do you know what room Ruby Rose was put in? I'd like to see her."

The lady at the front desk looked up and smiled apologetically. She was nice and around her mid-forties, with brown hair that went well with her darker complexion. Her name-tag said _"Claire"_. "I'm sorry, Rose is still in operation; you can wait here if you'd like or you can come back around nine?"

Cinder looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. It said six-thirty. Cinder sighed. "I think I might go get something to eat real quick and be back to wait for her."

Claire nodded. "Take your time; Rose won't be going anywhere while you're gone." She smiled reassuringly, but Cinder just turned and headed down the hallway towards the courtyard. She didn't really feel like eating yet…not after what happened.

"_It seems like everyone around me is getting hurt…but most importantly…Ruby…"_

Just the thought of the red-haired girl made the corners of Cinders cheeks lift a hair before they fell. Who was she kidding; Ruby nearly died because of her!

Cinder sighed and sat down heavily on one of the park benches in the area; getting a good view of the long sky that just started to get dark. It would have been beautiful had she not been thinking of Ruby, with that pool of blood around her and her pale skin…

Cinder groaned and leaned forward; covering her face with her hands. "Why Ruby…she's innocent…"

"I agree with you there, Cinderblock." Piped a voice.

Cinder whirled around and summoned a fireball into her hand; ready to light the nearest thing around her up like a Christmas tree.

Yang held up her hands in surrender. "Whoa, easy there, FlameLobber, I didn't come to fight…"

The auburn haired woman sighed and sat back down with a heavy thump. "Yeah; whatever."

Normally Yang might have gotten angry with Cinder for what she said; but Cinder didn't look so good. She looked frail and ready to burst into tears at a moment's notice; such a stark contrast to her normal self that Yang wanted to help her somehow.

Yang tentatively sat down next to her. "Soooo….I'm sorry for making you lose your memory and nearly not wake up...I don't think I ever apologized properly to you for it. I'm sorry."

Cinder smirked at that (Yang was never good with words), but her eyes betrayed a deep sadness. "I didn't think you were the type to apologize to someone like me…"

Yang blinked. "Someone like you?"

Cinder huffed. "Someone like me, who just so happens to be one of the worst criminals ever and is the sole reason that your sister nearly died tonight!"

Cinder pulled her knees up onto the bench and buried her face into them; hiding her eyes that were sparkling with tears.

Yang frowned at the 'worst criminals ever' part. "You're not a-"

"Yes I am! I was the one Ruby met on the rooftop right before she got initiated…I nearly killed her…I fought her again at the Beacon computer lab…I am dangerous…" Cinder sobbed out; her words muffled.

"I nearly killed Ruby too you know." Yang softly said.

A pause.

"You did?" Cinder tentatively asked, picking up her head and not caring about the tears streaming down her face.

Yang nodded. "I did. See…my mother left me and dad right after I was born. I thought that Ruby's mom, Summer, was my mom until I was around five or six when my dad told me the truth about my real mom. I searched and searched for answers on where she would be, and then finally when I was around ten I found something that I thought led me to where my birth mom would be. I…I took Ruby along with me. She was only a little kid…and then beowolves attacked and would have killed us both; had Uncle Qrow came along just in time and saved our skins."

Cinder's sobs had quieted; and now she was listening to Yang. Yang's voice for once gentle and somewhat soothing…like a gentle flame chasing the cold away.

"You see, Cinder" Yang continued. "I am not the only one who nearly killed Rubes…but I am determined to learn from that and become the best sister anyone could ever ask for. You can learn from your mistakes and become the best…" Yang paused, the thought of Cinder of all people dating her sister still hard to swallow. "The best girlfriend for my sister I could wish for…or you can let your doubts and fears get the best of you; which is just selfish anyways."

Cinder looked at Yang in new light. The blundering blonde was brash and her words harsh…but she knew exactly what to say to make her friends better…

Cinder started. Her 'friend'? Was Yang a friend now?

Yang lightly tapped Cinder on the shoulder. "Come on; I was going to go eat. You wanna go grab something to eat with me? I like to eat with friends." Yang laughed and stood up; stretching her back out from sitting on the bench for so long.

Cinder took Yang's outstretched hand and walked along next to her.

Yes.

Yang was definitely a friend now.

* * *

**A/N: **I'M ALIVE! :D

Wowza haha this took me forever to write. Honestly lol feel free to get on my case for not writing often enough. I am the worst writer haha but eyyyy I have been working on this for several months; like around 100-200 words per…week or two. :p Haha oh man I am so sorry for taking so long; guys. I am working on the chapters; it just takes me super long so I apologize.

But Merry Christmas! :D You guys stay safe and I hope you have a wonderful holiday. And if you aren't...pshh you can always talk to me! :) I like to cheer people up in my spare time so if you are feeling down over the holidays just send me a PM. Don't be shy! :D

**_Peace! Jackie out!_**


	10. Chapter 10

Forgotten Plans Chapter 10

* * *

Yang and Cinder walked down the hall towards the cafeteria. Yang grinned and still held fast to her hand. Cinder glanced down at their hands and cleared her throat. "Look, I know we're friends and all but you don't have to hold my hand still."

Yang, undeterred, widened her grin. "Aw come on Cinderblock, you're not getting all 'hot and bothered' are you? Plus I got my eyes on someone else…"

Cinder, who would have gladly punched Yang (some Karma would have been nice, right?) suddenly was intrigued.

"Who is this 'someone else'?" Cinder asked. Just then, they entered the cafeteria and Yang's eyes lit up upon seeing someone.

Cinder didn't recognize many of the people in the cafeteria, but the one that she did was none other than Blake, who was sipping tea quietly in a corner-and was exactly who Yang was looking at.

Yang quickly rushed towards Blake and sat down across from her, finally releasing Cinders hand.

"Yo, Blakey! You got the Intel I asked for?" Yang leaned across and looked at Blake like an excited puppy.

"No, now could you please stop asking me to spy on Weiss." Blake droned, not looking up from her book.

Cinder smirked. Of course Yang would ask someone to spy on Weiss.

Yang slumped and laid her head on the table. "Whyyyy meeeeee…." She whined.

Cinder and Blake glanced at each other and shared a smile, and Blake put her book down. "So, Cinder, how is Ruby? We tried stopping by earlier, but Ruby was still in operations."

Cinder sat down and sighed. "I'm not sure; sometime around nine." Yang perked up.

"Well, hey, you only got about an hour left; just enough time to eat with me and then we both can go vi- Ah! I mean, uh then you can go visit Ruby."

Yang smiled at Cinder but glared at Blake, who not-so-subtly kicked Yang in her shin. Yang mouthed some sort of threat and Blake just smirked back, her composure not broken in the slightest.

Yang grunted. "Fine, fishy-sticks, what do they got on the menu?"

Cinder just observed them interacting with each other and smiled. It was refreshing, to see people talking happily- albeit abusively- with each other. It made her think of her and Rose, who both always interacted very nicely…except…for that one time…when…

Cinder grabbed her head and closed her eyes, trying her hardest not to hyperventilate.

"Whoa, Cinder, you okay?" She heard Yang ask, but Cinder shook her head.

"Just…give me…give me space…I'm fine…" And that's when Cinder passed out.

* * *

Cinder opened her eyes and realized she was in the Med-ward. Nurse Joy was fiddling with a machine to her left and to her right was…

"Ruby!" Cinder sat up, but her head suddenly felt like exploding. "Ow, ow, ow…"

"Cinder, just lie down; rest and everything will be okay."

Cinder lay back down, but she was still looking at Ruby, who was looking a lot better.

Ruby was lying down on a cot to her right, and there were bandages on her chest, but other than that, she was sleeping peacefully.

Cinder smiled…but her smile faded when she remembered that she was the one who started this whole thing.

She was the one who organized the White Fang and gave them and that stupid Torchwick guy the weapons to go along with her stupid plans…

Man, did she have plans…but, even throughout all of her plans, she wanted to know more about the girl who could best her. The girl who stood up to her. The girl who befriended her despite everything bad about her. The girl who talked to her and is the reason she was awake and un-coma-fied.

The girl who was sleeping peacefully on the cot next to her.

Cinder closed her eyes to ward off the tears, and that's when she heard that same voice that pulled her out of her coma: her Rose's soft voice.

"Cinder? Are you okay?"

Cinder laughed softly and opened her eyes, glancing at Ruby. "You get stabbed and just get out of intense operations and that's the first question you ask me? How very Ruby Rose of you."

Ruby smiled, but she looked worried. "Are you okay though? What happened? Did she get you too?"

Cinder shook her head. "No; more memories came back and I maybe passed out again…"

Ruby nodded. "Ah, that makes sense. But what happened to Umbrella-girl? Nobody is telling me anything!"

"Patience, my dear. You both have been through a lot lately and I think you should get some rest."

Cinder and Ruby looked towards the doorway, where Professor Ozpin was leaning there with that small smile on his face.

"I feel better now…can I get up now?" Cinder asked, sitting up and trying to ignore her pounding headache.

Ozpin chuckled. "No, you need to sleep. And Miss Rose, you look very well for nearly dying."

Ruby paled. "I…I almost died?" She placed a hand over her chest and gulped. "The blade was that close to my heart, huh?"

Ozpin nodded, his face appearing grave. "Yes, the 'Umbrella-girl' as you call her seems to have it in for you. Have you seen her anywhere else that would explain this sudden attack?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, I can't think of anything… Cinder, what about you?"

Cinder gulped and shook her head. "Nah, must have been someone jealous of Crescent Rose…"

Cinder made eye contact with Ozpin that said _"We need to talk"_, and he nodded. "Miss Rose, I suggest you get some sleep; you will need your energy to get better and get back to your combat classes."

Ruby sighed. "Okay, Sir…" She snuggled in her bed and despite her protests earlier that she wasn't tired, she fell right to sleep.

Ozpin turned to Cinder and his face never appeared graver.

"Now, Miss Fall, I think you should head to my office the moment you can. It appears Neo disappeared; along with Emerald Sustrai."

* * *

"So, Neo, you broke out of Beacon's jail." Roman observed.

The teleporter only glared.

"And let's not forget me; who nearly got killed by Mr. Ozzy." Emerald stalked in behind Neo and Roman sighed.

"Oh. You made it." He stated.

Mercury laughed, slapping his knee. "Nice one, Roman! I mean, you're going to lose your balls but hey; way to go out with a bang."

Emerald glared at him. "You shut it before you lose something too."

Mercury held up his hands in surrender. "Whoa, easy. Please don't take anything of mine; I need those!"

Emerald just groaned. "Ew. Anyway; we have to decide what to do with Cinder. She remembers everything now; she could decide to go against us and kill us all. It's a more pressing matter than your precious genitals."

Roman hummed thoughtfully. "What if we take the fight to them with a distraction? We gather the White Fang, our best fighters, and attack. Then, you three can go after Cinder and I'll go after little Red."

Neo twirled her umbrella around and nodded.

Emerald grinned. "I can't wait to finally silence Cinder so we can all go back to doing whatever we want...This battle is going to be awesome!"

Mercury groaned. "Do we have to? I mean, it's like the big game this weekend and if we could hold off this attack for like three more days or something then-"

"_No!"_ Roman and Emerald shouted. Neo just huffed and glared at Mercury. She was doing quite a bit of glaring.

"Jeesh, fine, you can't blame a guy for trying…" He mumbled.

Emerald just threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, we're just going to finally get our lives back and the person who could ruin us forever gone, but I mean no biggie."

Mercury paused. "You have a point."

Roman sighed. "If you kids are done fighting, I've got quite a bit of work to do if we want to actually win against Cinder. Mercury; move those boxes of red dust crystals and get someone to work on turning them into bombs. Emerald…-"

* * *

**Meanwhile:**

"And so then I charged the Ursa and killed it stone cold with one head butt! It was awesome!" Ruby laughed at Yang's hand movements and her wide grin. She loved it when Yang told her stories, because while Ruby was energetic and passionate about it, Yang was just crazy.

"Right, and that's also when Weiss saved you from three beowolves because you nearly passed out from the blunt-force trauma of head butting the Ursa." Blake stoically pointed out.

Yang pouted. "Aw come on Blakey, you promised you wouldn't share that part!"

"_And_ that's when I had to support your weight and fight off the other two beowolves all while you were mumbling nonsense." Weiss said with her arms crossed.

Cinder cracked a smile at that. "Nice rescue, Weiss. Looks like Yang got a bit 'burned out' by head butting the Ursa."

There was a pause before Yang hugged Cinder tight and lifted her into the air. "I am having a punsitive influence on you! This is great!"

Cinder coughed "Air…need…air…" Yang quickly put her down. "My bad…sorry."

Cinder coughed some more, but she held out a thumbs up. "Remind me to say puns far away from you…"

Yang fake pouted.

Just then, the nurse came in and told them that Ruby needed to get her physical done so they should come back in a couple hours.

Now Yang was actually pouting.

"Aw come on, doc just a few more-"

"Out, Xiao-Long."

Yang sighed in defeat because really, she only wanted Ruby to get better, so leaving for a little bit was probably the better option.

She joined everyone outside the room. "Gosh this is depressing, huh Cinder?"

Cinder nodded. "I know…if I had woken up earlier…" She just hardened her gaze and swallowed. "Anyways, yeah."

Blake luckily changed the conversation just in time. "So, you and Ozpin seem to be hanging out often; what's going on with that?"

Cinder sighed. "It's…complicated."

"As well it should be- it's classified information!" Said a voice behind them.

Yang, Weiss, Blake and Cinder all whirled around, and came face (or faces) to face with Glynda Goodwitch.

Cinder gulped. "Uh, hello Mrs. Goodwitch…I was just explaining to them that it's complicated and-"

"And explaining no more and heading to Mr. Ozpin's study right away? That's right; yes you were."

Cinder frowned. "Of course…" She quickly walked past Glynda, sparing a fleeting glance at her friends before vanishing down a corridor.

Blake caught the look, and Weiss looked like she had too, while Yang was just staring at Glynda. "Mrs. Goodwitch, please don't expel me…"

Glynda sighed "Teenagers…" and left.

Blake and Weiss exchanged looks. "Just what are they up to…?" Weiss mumbled.

"What's who now?" Yang said, throwing her arms around Blake and Weiss's shoulders.

"Cinder and the teachers; they all are up to something; we should figure out what…" Blake said.

Weiss interjected. "Okay look I know we all want to find out what's going on but Mrs. Goodwitch made it clear that it was off limits. The last thing I want to do is get expelled for finding out about some secret Ozpin and the other teachers are sharing with Cinder."

Yang frowned. "Hey, why don't we just ask Cinder? I mean, she's going to spill eventually. Besides, if she really can't tell us yet then there must be a really good reason she's keeping it a secret."

"Keeping what a secret?"

In a moment of déjà-vu, Blake, Weiss and Yang whirled around and came face (or faces) with Cinder.

Cinder smirked. "I just wanted to let you guys know that Ozpin said I could tell you when he gives the signal; but until I do please don't eavesdrop on our conversations- it's vital that nobody knows what we are planning."

They all just stood there in shock, and Yang nodded. "All right; let's go then guys."

Cinder watched them go and sighed.

_You can't keep your secret a secret forever…eventually they are going to find out about your past - and that eventually is coming up pretty soon._

Cinder sighed again.

_I just need to go visit Ruby again; she always calms me down…_

* * *

"Cinder!" A red blur ran into Cinder when she entered Ruby's room, and Cinder smiled at the familiar feeling of Ruby's arms around her.

"Hello Rose; missed me much?" A soft chuckle at that.

"Quiet you…I get to leave the Med-ward today!" Ruby wiggled free of Cinder and bounced up and down. "I cannot wait for my own bed to sleep in…gahhh and my sweetheart! I haven't cleaned her in forever!"

Cinder grinned. Dust she missed Ruby. "How about we stop by and pick up Crescent Rose on our way back to the dorm?"

Ruby nodded her head vigorously. "That sounds awesome! Joy checked me out five minutes ago and said I was all good to go; so let's get out of here!"

Ruby rushed out of the room in a flurry of rose petals and Cinder smiled. "Rose wait; we have to go back to the other dorm room; the healing one I had to move out of because some other kid got hit by a Boarbatusk and he'll be using it for a while."

A red-haired head peeked out from behind the corner. "Say what now? Where have you been staying then?"

Cinder smiled. "I have been moved to the dorm rooms a couple floors above you; the previous team had some fall-outs and had to quit attending Beacon. But honestly, I basically live in your dorm; Yang forced me to sleep in Blake's bed while she slept in that…very nice bunk of yours…and I've kinda stayed there."

Ruby pouted in that adorable pout where she pushes out her bottom lip and goes puppy-eyed. "You don't like my bunk? You didn't want to sleep in it?"

Cinder laughed. "No, I was still healing and Yang made me take a bottom bunk and Weiss was not parting with her fancy shmancy mattress from Vale."

Ruby grinned wide. "You really have been hanging out with Yang."

Cinder chuckled and took Ruby's hand in hers as she headed out the door. "Come on, silly goose; I think Crescent Rose has needed you."

Ruby giggled and walked next to Cinder. "So, where is my sweetheart?"

Cinder smirked. "Last I checked: you were holding her hand…"

Ruby paused and then smacked Cinder in the arm. "I will slap you!"

Cinder burst into laughter. "You just did!"

Ruby groaned. "You have been hanging around Yang wayyyyyyyy too much…"

* * *

A/N: Okay so no excuses here-totally all my fault for taking so long. I got a guest review that was super super duper nice and gave me motivation to get my lame-ass bum in gear haha so here you guys go. Happy Valentine's Day! :D

Peace! Jackie out!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sooooo here; I posted chapter 11 here again BUT this is re-done! I changed a lot of it, so if you'd give it a read again that'd be awesome! I put in an epic battle for you guys, hopefully it's better than the last one :p Read on, my lovelies!**

**Thanks to everyone for your amazing reviews :D**

**And thanks to guest, for those cool-butt nice reviews :')**

* * *

**Chapter 11 (The re-done one)**

_One week later…_

Ruby and Cinder were chilling in the RWBY dorm room; Cinder re-charging her new combat uniform that Ozpin gave her and Ruby cleaning her 'sweetheart'.

Cinder's new uniform was black and infused with dust crystals that could be re-charged when the dust in them got low. The dust gave her semblance power and used with her weapons, so she would be twice as strong while wearing it. Her uniform had a place for her crystal capsules of different dust types that, when deployed, would fire whichever type of dust crystal was in it at high velocities. It was a one-piece uniform and less…revealing than her previous uniforms had been.

It was much like her old one, the one she used to…infiltrate Beacon all that time ago. Cinder glanced at Ruby, who was humming while cleaning her scythe, and grinned. "Have you always been so adventurous?"

"Huh?" Ruby glanced up from putting Crescent Rose back together. "What did you say, Cin?"

Cinder smiled. "Have you always been so brave and adventurous?"

Ruby shrugged. "Nah I'm not that brave. What makes you think that?" She swiveled her chair back around and started working on her weapon.

Cinder just stared at her. "You're the one who followed me after the dance and tried to stop me. I remember being angered that you messed up my plans…but at the same time, I was impressed. I still am. You fought bravely even though you were in those silly heels you could barely walk in."

Ruby groaned. "Don't remind me; I hate heels so much…I still have nightmares…" She shivered.

Cinder got up from her desk where her uniform was re-charging and went over to stand behind Ruby, who was sitting at her own desk and was nearly completed in putting Crescent Rose back together.

"You've always been brave and adventurous haven't you? I think I recall you saying something about Yang reading books about knights and adventures to you when you were little."

Ruby paused. "You remember that? I only mentioned that to you when you were…"

Cinder nodded and hugged her girlfriend from behind. "When I was in a coma; I know. I don't remember too much of what you said that much; only little snippets of it. I remember most of it as dreams."

At this, Ruby sat up straighter. "You dream about it? About being in a coma? Is it bad?"

Cinder smiled and kissed the top of Ruby's head. "Never bad; you're always there talking to me." A slight pause. "Jeez, you must not have had friends before huh?"

Ruby sighed. "Nope; no friends. My team kind of was annoyed with me; even Yang used to be a little easily annoyed at me. You were always the one person I could talk to. Even though you never said anything back, I always felt like you were listening and that made me feel less lonely."

Cinder looked at Ruby in half-shock. Ruby sensed it and stood up to hug her properly. "It's okay; really. I used to be a loner and stuff before I got confident in being a leader. You helped me realize that I could be more."

Ruby hugged her close and sighed. "You're the one that's brave and adventurous, Cin. I mean, you lost your freaking memory. And yet here you are; choosing a better life than you had before."

Cinder hugged her back. "I think if it wasn't for you, I might have returned to my old life. Everyone at Beacon hated me; but you always were rooting for me; and that gave me the strength to forget about my old life and make a new one. With you."

Ruby blushed and opened her mouth to reply, but just then a knock sounded on the door.

Cinder sighed. _"Great- another person breaking our special moment_._"_ If it wasn't important Cinder would burn them to a crisp. "Who is it?"

"Ozpin needs to see you two; right away!" Said a hurried voice from behind the closed door.

Cinder and Ruby exchanged glances and then they were out the door and headed to Ozpin's office.

Cinder and Ruby had been waiting for any word from Ozpin about their next step for a week now.

"_This could be it…"_

* * *

"Our reconnaissance scouts have reported movement in the area; more White Fang activity and it seems they have pooled the White Fang within a day's journey of Beacon. It appears they aim to attack Beacon itself."

Silence fell around Ozpin's office.

Ozpin sighed and continued. "I know this seems to be a drastic move on their part but we have anticipated this move for quite a while." He looked at Cinder and Cinder started.

"You…you knew I was going to attack the whole time?"

Ozpin merely chuckled. "I am more experienced than you know, more than you will ever know. I've made many mistakes in my time on Remnant, and with each one I learn. You two should do the same."

Cinder gulped. "For what it's worth; I have learned which side to be on." She looked over at Ruby, who was just silently listening to everything.

"I now know that attacking you for what you have done to my family in the Great War was a mistake. But I hope you learned from that mistake more than others."

Cinder stared hard at Ozpin, her eyes seemingly blazing with the intensity of which she stared at him. Ozpin sat down at his desk and sighed. "I was hoping that memory wouldn't resurface until later…"

He folded his hands on his desk and looked at Cinder as intently as Ruby had ever seen. "I know words will never make what I did to your family okay, nor make the feelings and pain go away; but I want you to know that I regret that moment more than any other moment in my entire life. I'm sorry."

Ruby was just glancing back and forth between the two, having been lost in the conversation. She would have to talk to Cinder about her past again one day…

Cinder nodded, seemingly accepting his apology, and her eyes got a bit watery. "All right…what do you want us to do to be ready for this attack?" She blinked and was back to the calm and composed Cinder ready for a mission.

Ozpin took a long draft from his mug and resumed his usual calm composure. "My sources tell me that your old comrades have gathered near the south side of Beacon, and intend to hit hard and fast; take the students by surprise. The students are being briefed by Mrs. Goodwitch right now. All the first year students are going to be guarding the doors to Beacon, while everyone else is going to guard the doors on the outside and fight the White Fang. I took the liberty of calling Mr. Ironwood to control the White Fang and the generals of their army from endangering the city. We must keep them here to minimize the death of civilians."

Ruby gulped at the word _death_. She was a Huntress now, not a civilian. It was now her job to protect people; her life goal. To protect those who can't protect themselves.

Ruby straightened and stood tall, seemingly growing more mature on the spot. She could do this; she would protect the innocent! She would-"

"Ruby!" A voice interrupted.

Ruby looked over at Yang, who just stepped out of the elevator.

"Yang!"

Suddenly, Nora jumped out of the elevator and fist pumped.

"Nora!"

And, the mature-ness was gone.

* * *

After Ozpin finished giving Team RWBY, JNPR and Cinder their missions, they all met in the weapons room; gearing up for the battle.

Jaune was trying to stay calm, and with Pyrrha's help he was starting to breathe normally again.

Nora was oddly calm, but that's because with the talk Ozpin gave, she realized slightly how important their mission was.

(Although it was Ren pointing out that if the White Fang won she couldn't eat pancakes in the cafeteria anymore that worked quite well.)

Team RWBY and Cinder were all talking amongst themselves.

Weiss, of course, was the logical one and making sure everyone knew their part. "Okay, so Cinder and Ruby are the bait; the strongest fighters are going to be heading towards them. Our job is to keep everyone else away so they don't have to worry about getting hit by a stray bullet or knife."

Yang punched her fists together. "Nothing is getting near my little sis."

Ruby grinned. "Thanks, Yang."

Blake frowned. "What about Roman? I'm not sure what he's going to be doing…"

Everyone sort of glanced at Cinder, trying to be respectful of her past, but showing the needed to know.

Cinder just nodded her thanks and said "Well, the coward probably will either be in one of those Paladins we st-uh…'acquired' from certain places…or sitting in the warehouse, cowering. He's a thief and cruel, but he's not very brave. At all. Even if he shows up to fight, he's going to be letting the grunts do the work. And the battle will throw him off; he's not used to fighting large groups of enemies."

Everyone around Cinder nodded gravely. They had fought Grim, of course, and even had scuffles with Roman and other White Fang members before, but this was a _battle_. None of them had ever fought all out in a battle, defending their home and other people's lives before like this.

Yang suddenly grinned wide. "Well, now we get to use those moves that Glynda taught us!" She punched the air in front of her twice, and the tension in the room lowered a bit.

"_Trust Yang to always try and cheer everybody up…"_ Ruby thought, smiling.

Ren walked over and nodded to the group. "I think we should head to our positions; I just got a message that the White Fang are advancing."

Everyone exchanged glances.

"Well guys, stay safe." Yang said, holding out her hand and RWBY fist-bumped before heading out of the weapons locker room. It was a dumb tradition that started after Yang and Ruby tried to out-fist bump each other, before Weiss and Blake got wrapped up in it too. And now, before a team mission, they always fist bumped.

Cinder smiled. "See you guys soon." She fitted her bow onto her back and checked her dust crystals one last time before following the rest of her friends out of the weapons room.

So this was it. The final battle. Cinder knew first-hand how powerful the White Fang could be in large groups, especially if they had Emerald and Mercury and the White Fang generals there as well, which they undoubtedly would.

But out of everyone, Cinder was most concerned about Neo. She could teleport, and the small-statured woman was nimble; making hitting her nearly impossible. Nearly. Cinder had beaten her once and she would do it again.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by Ruby, who had dropped behind the group and had taken Cinder's hand in hers.

"You okay, Cin? You look troubled…" She looked up at Cinder and Cinder smiled slightly before squeezing Ruby's hand gently.

"I'm concerned about everyone fighting; I don't want people to get hurt because of me."

Cinder was looking down at the floor, finding sudden interest in her boots as she walked, but Ruby stopped her.

"Cin, Cin look at me." Cinder looked up at Ruby, and Ruby was giving Cinder her intense look. Her silver eyes bored into Cinder, and it was one of those times when Cinder knew exactly why Ozpin chose her as leader; her eyes shown with hidden intelligence.

"Cinder, this is not your fault. You didn't call those White Fang here. Roman and his goons did. They might want to get after you, but that has nothing to do with you. You're good now; they are evil. Evil and good will always battle, and there is nothing you can do about it other than to fight your hardest so evil loses and the least amount of people are injured. This is what being a Huntress is; protecting those that can't protect themselves, and committing to a battle against evil."

Ruby looked earnestly her girlfriend, looking for any signs of impact her words had on the ebony haired woman.

Cinder felt calmed by Ruby's words, and she smiled. "Rose, you amaze me." Cinder gave Ruby a gentle peck on the lips, and she grinned. "See you soon, Ruby."

Ruby blushed, but she smiled. "You too, Cinder."

They gave a small hug, and Ruby tried to forget that Cinder would be the target.

"Let's get in position and get this over with." Ruby said.

Cinder smirked and flexed her gloved hands. "Right behind you, Rose."

* * *

Yang finished checking Ember Celica, and she huffed. "Ruby and Cinder are in position. It's go-time."

Weiss looked around, her cold blue eyes calculating. "Movement in the bushes by the South. Blake, report."

Along with each team's scrolls, they were given earpieces to match, and Blake quickly responded via hers.

"Looks like a general is leading a small group, to test the waters. I bet they have many more behind the bushes waiting for the order to proceed."

Ruby's voice came over the comms. "Any sign of Neo? She can teleport, we need to keep an eye out for anyone who looks like her."

Yang frowned. "Birds, keep an eye on Hot and Red."

Weiss facepalmed. "You had to stick with those stupid codenames didn't you?"

Yang shrugged. "It's fun, and helps me calm down."

At this, Weiss couldn't argue against, so she sighed. "Fair enough."

Suddenly Blake shouted over the comms. "Looks like they had enough testing; they are full force attacking; all teams go go go!"

Yang bashed her fists together to juice-start her semblance, and grinned, her lilac eyes tinting a light shade of red. "Bring it!"

* * *

Blake was with JNPR on the far side of the field. Pyrrha stood tall and readied her weapon. "The time to fight is now." She looked at the edge of the field and sighed.

Blake followed her gaze and blanched. The scouts had done their job; they were attacking all out now. "Looks like they had enough testing; they are full force attacking; all teams go go go!"

Nora jumped up from her time-out (long story, as Ren would say) and picked up her hammer. "IT'S HAMMER TIME!"

She ran towards the enemy front line, giving the loudest battle cry anyone in Beacon had heard. Ren was close behind her, watching her back as he always did.

Jaune tightened his grip on his shield and glanced at Pyrrha, giving a weak smile. Pyrrha smiled. "Ready to see how training payed off?"

Jaune nodded. "Pshhh yeah, I was born ready!" His eyes betrayed him, and truly everyone else was feeling apprehensive about fighting people. Blake in particular. These were her family; her brothers and sisters she was facing. Blake looked around and saw Pyrrha, Jaune, Yang and Weiss and others. They were her new family, and they needed her.

Blake gave something of a growl/hiss and she jumped into battle.

* * *

Yang punched the ground causing the White Fang around her to fall to the ground where Nora made short work of them with her hammer. Weiss and Blake were dancing around the field, attacking in one place before switching to another place, leaving destruction and confusion in their wake. The White Fang were no longer in formation, trying to figure out where Weiss and Blake would attack next, when a Team from Beacon would rush in and take them out.

Just then, Blake and Weiss rushed quickly over to Yang. Blake, her ears under her bow twitching from the sounds of battle, quickly relayed info to Yang. "Weiss spotted Mercury trying to get to Neo and Emerald; we're both going to make sure he doesn't get there. Keep your sector pushed back; Ironwood is keeping them from retreating. Ozpin is still trying to get the White Fang to surrender before Ironwood does something dangerous."

Yang nodded. "Gotcha Blakey, we've got it covered here."

Weiss readied her rapier. "Come, Blake; Mercury is advancing."

Blake said into her comm that they had Mercury, and they quickly rushed off.

Yang looked around and spotted Nora and Ren still creating chaos and very impressive craters around Beacon. She glanced and saw Jaune and Pyrrha slowly drawing back to meet her. She rushed over to them.

"What's up guys?"

Jaune sighed. "Oh aside from a very large battle that we are in and the fact that I will need some new pants after this…not much. You?"

Yang laughed. "Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha caught her shield and looked around to make sure they had a clear moment to talk. "I think the White Fang are starting to question going against Beacon; Ironwood is keeping them from bringing in any heavy machinery like Paladins, and without them they are suffering."

Yang nodded. "You think Rubes and Cinder are okay? Should we go to back them up?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "We have to focus on our sector; our two teams are holding this part while the other teams hold theirs. We can't let them advance too far or it will be much more difficult to contain them."

Yang sighed. "I figured that…I just, want to help them…"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, but they both are really skilled; I'm sure they are fine."

* * *

Cinder and Ruby stood in the center of the courtyard and watched the battle unfold.

Cinder frowned. "No sign of Neo, Emerald and Mercury. I have a bad feeling about this…"

Ruby nodded. "I know, but we should be ready for anyth-"

"Surprise!" Ruby heard the swish of a blade right before she ducked and rolled, unsheathing Crescent Rose at the same time.

Her and Cinder faced their assailant, who just so happened to be Emerald Sustrai, the girl who had escaped from the jail cells with Neo.

Ruby's chest wound started to ache just from the memory of the thin blade, and she glanced around for-

Just then, Neo appeared behind her and smirked. "Looking for me?" She kicked Ruby behind the knees, and Ruby grunted before falling over.

"Blake here, I have eyes on Mercury. Weiss and I are going to stop him from advancing towards the school." Blake said over the comms.

Ruby spat grass out of her mouth. "Cinder and I have Neo and Emerald."

Ruby rolled and jumped to her feet, facing Neo. Emerald and Cinder were facing off a few feet to her left, and Cinder suddenly shouted "Falling Petals!"

Ruby moved instantly, weeks of training finally paying off. She whirled her scythe around and activated her semblance, running and catching Cinder's outstretched arm. She stabbed the blade end of Crescent Rose into the ground, and spun around, swirling Cinder in a wide arc, then on the signal, she let go, which flung Cinder directly at Neo.

Cinder drew her knives and pretty soon, she and Neo were locked in combat.

Ruby didn't have time to watch though, because Emerald rushed over, swinging her daggers at Ruby.

Ruby swirled her scythe around in a wide arc and Emerald easily ducked, but was unprepared for the speed at which Ruby brought her scythe back around and went for Emerald's legs.

Emerald made a jump that barely made it over the blade, but during it she tripped and fell. Ruby made the most of it and swung around on her scythe, aiming a combat boot at Emerald's head.

Emerald rolled out of the way and hopped to her feet. "Nice try, Red, but I don't go down that easily."

Ruby got into a ready stance. "There is no need to fight; we could use a good fighter like you."

Emerald scoffed. "At Beacon? I'd rather die!" She rushed at Ruby, swinging her daggers in deadly swirls.

* * *

Cinder moved to avoid the rapier aimed at her heart and slammed Neo's arm with the hilt of her blade. "Give up, Neo. There is no point in fighting me; I've beaten you once and I'll beat you again."

Neo glared. "You have no idea what you've done to me!" She lunged at Cinder, who deftly grabbed Neo's hand with hers and grappled with her.

"What have I done to you? Tell me!" Cinder shouted. Neo's arms weakened a bit as she shouted back with a break in her voice; "You hurt me!"

Suddenly, Cinder got a flashback to when Neo was holding her arm and looking at her with…attraction?

It all made sense now. When Cinder was evil, Neo had made it clear she was into her. To find out that Cinder chose Ruby probably made the seriously troubled girl snap out in her hurt.

Cinder relaxed. "You love me."

Neo looked at her, her eyes brimming with tears. "And you loved me, once." It was more of a hopeful question than a statement, and Cinder shook her head sadly. "No, Neo."

Neo clenched her eyes shut, her tears streaming down her face. "I know…"

She then broke free from Cinder's grasp and looked her in the eyes. "I love you." With those words, she grew still, and Cinder knew she had teleported.

Cinder looked around wildly for her, and saw the brown and pink haired woman appear right in front of one of Ruby's bullets aimed towards Emerald.

Neo fell to the ground right in front of Ruby and Emerald, and Cinder ran over and dropped to her knees. As soon as she saw the blood pool under Neo she knew. Neo had deactivated her aura and committed suicide.

Ruby rushed up next to Cinder. "I, I don't know what happened I was aiming at Emerald and then the next thing I knew she appeared right in front of it!"

Neo coughed up blood and took one long look at Cinder before she passed from the land of the living.

Cinder gently reached up and closed her eyes. "I know you do, Neo…"

Emerald saw what happened. She glared and tightly gripped her daggers. "You killed her!" She threw one of her daggers at the unsuspecting Ruby who had just enough time to block with her scythe; but not without the weapon bouncing off Crescent Rose and grazing her arm. Ruby took a defensive stance again. "It wasn't my fault!"

Emerald's eyes burned with hatred. "It's all your fault!" She readied her blade.

Cinder scoffed. "You can't stop us both."

Emerald glared harder. "I can try!" She swung around in a circle, kicking Cinder hard in her stomach before spinning and sweeping Ruby's legs out from under her.

Ruby landed hard but quickly rolled to her feet; barely avoiding Emerald's strike.

Cinder quickly recovered from Emerald's blow, and swung her own dual daggers at her. Emerald rolled to her left and picked up her thrown dagger before kicking at Cinder again; this time missing.

Cinder was tired from her battle with Neo, and her aura was running low. Emerald sensed this, and when Cinder dodged another kick, Emerald quickly jabbed a dagger for Cinder's side.

Cinder quickly jumped back, and the knife changed course and got her in her right arm. "Argh…" Cinder quickly pulled it out, and threw it far behind her before facing Emerald once again.

The two locked in combat, Emerald realized she forgot about Ruby.

Taking a quick look around, she noticed there was no sign of the girl with the red cloak…

Until suddenly, there was nothing but flower petals and glimpses of Ruby all around her. It was all Emerald could do to cover her face, because Ruby, albeit rarely using martial arts, knew quite a lot from her lessons in Beacon. And from Yang.

Ruby would appear to her left, throw a punch forward, and as Emerald went to block it, she would appear to her right and finish through with a nasty right hook that had her super speed behind it. Emerald never stood a chance.

With one final uppercut, Ruby successfully knocked Emerald out; her aura and semblance depleted.

She stood over Emerald, panting a bit from using her semblance so much. With a weary glance at Cinder; who suddenly realized that Ruby had a lot more power than she ever let on, Ruby passed out.

* * *

**A/N: Soooo here! I rewrote this chapter, putting in epic battle scenes I hope you guys enjoy. After this chapter I will continue putting up the nearly-done epilogue, and then this story will sadly be done. Hope to see what you think of this re-done chapter!**


	12. Epilogue

**A/N: RE-READ CHAPTER 11! Haha, I re-did that chapter, it's a LOT better than the old one. So go re-read that chapter before reading this one if you'd like. I don't think it gave the notification because it was re-done, so yeah. Thanks! Onto the story!  
**

* * *

_Chapter 12 (Epilogue)_

* * *

After Neo died and Emerald got knocked out, the rest of the battle ended fairly fast. Blake and Weiss took Mercury out easily, and he was resting in one of Ironwoods jails awaiting his sentence alongside Emerald.

Cinder had carefully taken Neo's body to the infirmary, where Ozpin said he'd take care of what to do with her personally.

Though people looked for Roman, he had suddenly become very scarce. Though there were reports of him or someone looking like him every once in a while; he was causing little to no trouble, and Ozpin had people keeping tabs on him to see what would happen.

As for the battle, there were fairly small amounts of casualties on both sides; but there were a few. A small group of First Year Huntsmen sneaked out of Glynda's watch and tried to take on some White Fang members. At least three of the group was mortally injured. Luckily, the other Teams reacted quickly, and got to them before the White Fang could do more damage.

Not as much White Fang members were killed as suspected; the Teams from Beacon doing their best to not kill them. There were a small number of White Fang that died though, making their casualties amount to 10. This made 14 casualties overall; including Neo.

While some Hunters and Huntress's were still in shock over the battle; the ones who needed more special treatment for dealing with the battle were recommended good people who could help them recover quickly. Most of them were overjoyed at fighting their first real battle and winning, and there was a great celebration at Beacon the following Saturday. Ozpin gave a "well done students" speech, and gave awards to some for their admirable actions.

Team RWBY, JNPR, and others were all gathered in the cafeteria for the victory celebrations; which had been turned into a 'Glorified Cafeteria', as Weiss called it. Ruby had been allowed to leave the infirmary fairly quickly. Nurse Joy had said she had overused her semblance, and her body passed out to regain more energy. Cinder had carried Ruby to the infirmary, and hadn't left her side the whole time; except for carrying Neo there after Ruby. When Ruby woke up she had a slight headache, but otherwise Joy said she was free to go. Cinder and Ruby had headed straight to their shared dorm room and took a much-needed nap.

They spent the following days after the battle with the rest of Beacon; repairing damage done to Beacon from the battle. Saturday had finally came around, and now; Ruby and gang were sitting around 'Glorified Cafeteria Tables', as Weiss called it.

Yang and Weiss were bantering back and forth, but wore smiles. Blake was initially very disturbed over the White Fang deaths, but after Yang talked to her, she still seemed sad, but was getting better. Now she was reading a book next to Ren, the two of them silently keeping an eye on their partners. Jaune and Pyrrha were talking different ways to discover his semblance, and Nora…Nora was eating pancakes. Lots of pancakes.

Everyone was happy and joking around….except for one person.

* * *

Ruby was a mess. She tried really hard to be happy, and to hang out with her friends, but she just couldn't do it.

"And then I was like "HAMMER TIME!" and knocked him so hard that his boots came flying off as he flew backwards! It was awesome!" Everyone laughed at Nora's stories, and she grinned wide.

Ruby quietly stood up from the table. Yang took notice and started whining. "But sissss you can't go! You never got around to telling the story of how you beat Neo and Emerald!"

Ruby waved her off. "Haha nah; Cinder can tell you that. I have to go to the bathroom and then check on my sweetheart. I'll see you guys later!"

She tried to casually walk away, but all she wanted to do was run as fast as she could away…but deep down she knew she couldn't keep running away from the awful truth. Ruby had killed someone.

Ruby had sworn never to kill anyone; only creatures of Grimm. She had broken her promise, and it tore her up. How could she fight for good when she was taking life?

She sighed deeply, and before she knew it, her legs had taken her wandering up to the roof of Beacon. She had seen Jaune and Pyrrha on a similar one, but it was on the other side of the dorms.

Ruby sat down on the ledge and looked out at the stars and the bright, shattered moon.

Her mind kept on drifting to Neo, and how a pool of her blood had slowly started to spread around her…Ruby had hit very close to her heart; she died very quickly. Of that, Ruby was somewhat glad. Nobody deserved a long and painful death.

Ruby sighed deeply. If only she had been faster; more aware…maybe she could have prevented it; or done something to only minorly injure Neo…What if-

"Ruby? What are you doing up here all alone?"

Ruby quickly turned around from her spot on the roof of Beacon, but relaxed once she saw who it was. "Hi Cinder…" She turned back around and faced the sky, her head slightly lowered.

Cinder frowned. She slowly walked over to where Ruby was sitting and gently put a hand on her right shoulder. "Rose, can I sit by you or do you want some space?"

Ruby shrugged. "You can sit by me if you want to; you don't have to though."

Cinder knew her well enough by now to know that meant _please don't leave me_.

Cinder sat down and wrapped her arms around Ruby and pulled her close. She activated her semblance a little, not too much, but just enough to emit heat. Ruby loves warmth, and the way she scooted closer to Cinder and leaned into her made Cinder smile.

"What's wrong, Rose?"

Ruby sighed softly. "How could you do it?"

Cinder frowned. "Do what?" She was puzzled.

"When you were…different…did you kill people?" Ruby quietly asked. Cinder was stunned.

"Um, I did, actually, yes." Cinder looked down at Ruby, and could see something was seriously bothering her. "But I was different then, thinking back on it now makes me sick and feel like I'm looking at a cruel villain. Truthfully, I don't know how I could do it before."

Ruby looked deep in thought. Cinder's brow furrowed further. "What is this really about, Ruby?"

Ruby clenched her eyes shut.

"Just…Neo…I killed her…I made a promise not to kill anyone, but I broke it…how can I do good things when I'm a murderer?!"

Cinder frowned. "Ruby, look at me." Cinder waited until Ruby looked her way, and she gently cupped both sides of Ruby's cheeks.

"Ruby Rose you are beautiful, and I don't just mean your outside. Your soul is kind, and caring, and you don't have a sliver of any murderous intent in your whole being. You are not a murderer and never will be. You showed me how to be a better person, and without you, I would have caused a lot more pain in this world."

Ruby's eyes filled with a mix of happy and sad tears. "Then why do I feel so bad…"

"You care about people so much, and that's why. You wouldn't be my Rose if you didn't; caring is not a bad thing. The fact that you care about Neo proves you are a good person. You didn't kill Emerald, remember? I saw you use your semblance so fast, you could have killed her easily. But you didn't. You had a choice to spare her or kill her and you spared her. With Neo, you didn't have a choice. Your semblance even wouldn't have spared Neo. She teleported after you fired your bullets. She made her choice, and if you didn't fire Crescent Rose she would have found a different way."

Cinder brushed a tear from Ruby's cheek with her thumb. "You are the best Huntress, Team leader, and girlfriend ever. Nothing will ever change that, Rose."

Ruby smiled a bit from that, and she blinked her silver eyes at Cinder. "You…you really think so?"

Cinder leaned her head forward so their foreheads were touching. "No, I know so."

Ruby's smile grew, and Cinder felt those small butterflies in her stomach that she gets every time Ruby and she are close like this.

Ruby tilted her head up a little and gently brought her lips to meet Cinder's.

Cinder melted a bit. Kissing Ruby was like heaven…she tasted like cookies and strawberries, and smelled like rose petals…Cinder loved it and couldn't ever imagine getting tired of kissing her.

Ruby smiled and hugged her close. "Thanks, Cinder…I feel a lot better now….You're the best."

Cinder smiled too, and hugged her back. "You're welcome, Rose."

They sat like that for several long, comfortable minutes; resting a few feet from the ledge in each other's arms, before Cinder suddenly started laughing.

Ruby looked up at her. "What, Cin?"

Cinder grinned and looked down at Ruby. "Have I ever told you how old I am?"

* * *

**A/N: So here it is; the final chapter for this fanfiction! :D Sorry/not sorry about me re-doing the previous chapter, haha you couldn't review the new chapter if you did on the previous one, lol so if you want to put in your two cents in like a two-part review you can! Or just review to this, or I guess you could not review if you really wanted to, but seeing as how this is the last chapter of this story I'd love your guy's input! **

**Did you like the ending? Think I should have done something different? I hope you guys really like this chapter; sorry for taking forever to write this! (again, lmao)**

**I really like how I made Cinder in this, and so tell me what you think about her- did you like my good Cinder?**

**Thank you guys so much for following; favouriting, and reviewing. You guys gave me the encouragement to keep going! I hope you guys have an awesome day! Thanks again!**

**Peace! Jackie out!**


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